Mission of Proxy
by crow4711
Summary: AU. Clockwork has a mission for Danny. He wants his student to act as a stand-in for a boy who just died in an accident in his parents' basement. Let's hope Danny has good acting skills, this boy is the complete opposite of him! Now, he has to pretend to be a weakling in a strange public school, fight with his father, and intentionally get bad grades. Will he fail or succeed?
1. Chapter 1: Kick-Off!

**_Hello again! Okay, this is my first chapter story on FF. The first chapter is kind of short and I didn't really know where to start with this. I'll try to make chapters longer if people like this. If you like it, lemme know! I'd be glad to continue and if you have any suggestions or ideas, I'd be interested in hearing them! R&R and enjoy~! _**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own anything._**

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_Chapter 1 Start!_

Vladimir Masters was very different. Since his college days - where he lost his two closest friends, was hospitalized with a case of acne from a lab accident, and had his very being altered - Vlad has had a secret. A secret so large and dangerous, that it would be a risk to his survival if he told anyone. Not that he had anyone to really tell at that point. So, he never told anyone. He opted to keep it hidden, pretend it didn't exist. But that was hard. It was a part of him, he couldn't push it into a corner and keep it there with a playpen you use to keep toddlers and infants in an area you can keep track of them and hope it stays there with no opposition. It wanted out, it wanted free to run rampant and do whatever it wanted, as was its instinct. It kept getting harder and harder to ignore. He knew it was there, he wanted to ignore it. He really did. He didn't want to be different from everyone else. The thought made him feel... lonely. Loneliness isn't fun, Vlad knows this well. The whole time he spent in the hospital, no one visited. Not the people he used to call his friends, not the girl he had feelings for, not even the doctors wanted near him. They didn't know what was wrong, it was unheard of and unseen. Vlad spent his time alone for the most part, waiting for his body to heal itself. It did.

He worked hard to continue his research, the very research that had reduced him to the state he was and still is in. Once he finally made a breakthrough, his eyes were opened to a new world - the very same world that he was trying to hide away. At that point, he decided to nurture the new part of him and try to understand it. He wanted to know what he had been pushing away for so long, and maybe see if it wasn't such a horrible thing after all. Years went by dedicated to exploring his new boundaries, pushing them. Somehow, that landed him billions of dollars. But still, he had no one to share it with.

More and more time passed, no great feats accomplished. The odd bit of happiness popped up every once in a while, but nothing that lasted. As Vlad continued research and practice, he began to lose hope of ever finding true everlasting happiness. He was beginning to see his future doomed to loneliness and regret.

That was until he met his son. The son that inherited his secret, became the only other person who carried it.

And suddenly his world wasn't full of gloom and rain clouds.

Vlad stared down across the table at his son's mentor. He could swear this man was absurd. What was he thinking? Why should Vlad, or even his son for that matter, care? Vlad could not for the half-life of him see the logic in the man's request.

"You want my son to do what?" he asked, not liking the idea at all.

"I would like for him to take the place of a boy who has just died. I request this because this is the only way to keep the time stream on the right path." he explained slowly, knowing already how the conversation would pan out. "You know the boy's parents, they're your friends. Couldn't you do this one thing for them?"

"Friends? You think they're my friends? You are mistaken, Clockwork, they are nothing even remotely close to friends. You know what they did to me, you know very well." Vlad hissed. "Those people may have meant something to me in the past, but now they are nothing."

"I don't believe it is completely your decision to make, Vladimir." Clockwork stated lowly.

"I am his father. Until he turns eighteen, I may make whatever decisions I may or may not please."

Silence enveloped them after that statement, leaving nothing but the sound of Vlad's quiet breathing. Neither wanted to speak, one because he already had knowledge of what was to come, and the other because he knew he would lose this battle anyways no matter what he said. Vlad looked down at the polished mahogany of the table, thinking about the current situation. How could he just send his son off as a stand-in for people he didn't even like? His son hadn't even been told about this yet! Clockwork could at least let him talk it over with him. Maybe his son was strongly opposed, maybe he would rather remain at home with his real father. Not some overgrown oaf! And Vlad knew his son wasn't going to be a good enough actor for something like this. He couldn't even lie without stuttering. He also knew Clockwork knew as much too. So why was he requesting this? And he especially didn't want his son in a house full of ghost hunters! That could be extremely dangerous! Vlad had already had his mind made up, it was just his boy. His son had high morals - Vlad had a vague notion that those had come from Clockwork's influence - and tended to strive towards doing the right thing, even if it had the potential to turn around and bite him. Vlad sighed inwardly. He knew that if he made the decision without his son's consent, his son would be upset with him. Probably grumbling something about treating him like an infant or such. Vlad looked up at Clockwork, who had looked satisfied from the beginning, and scoffed.

"Fine, I will speak with him. That does not guarantee a yes, Clockwork."

"Perhaps." Vlad resisted the strong urge to blast him as he walked out of the room. He walked down long hallways carpeted in lush red, and lit with small but dazzling chandeliers hanging at even intervals along the length of every hallway in his mansion. He turned a corner and climbed his - probably too extravagant stairs - and continued on towards his son's room where he was most likely doing homework. He gripped the shined gold knob of the polished wood door, sporting the same wood as the majority of his castle, and turned it. He pushed the door open, greeted with the sight of his son sitting at his desk working diligently on his school work.

"Hey dad." he said upon hearing his father's entrance.

"Hello, Daniel." Vlad smiled at his son as he approached. He leaned over his shoulder to take a look at what his son was currently working on. "Ah, working on an assignment for math?"

"Yeah, it's easy but it takes a while to do. I'm almost done though. So, was there something you needed?"

"Yes, Clockwork is here and he has a mission of sorts he would like for you to do for him." Vlad winced at the reply.

"Sure, I'd be happy to. I can take care of it pretty quick."

"Daniel, it's more of a long term assignment. You'd be away from home for quite a while."

"Well, how long would it take?"

"You would be taking the place of a boy who has just died in an accident. Clockwork has told me that you look similar to this family's son, and you are the best candidate. He says that this would keep the time stream running smoothly. He didn't give me much information, just the bare minimum." Vlad explained, already having a feeling that his son was going to stick with his decision.

"Well, if it keeps the time stream going pretty well, I guess I'll do it. I'm guessing this will take a long time though. What about school?"

"I'll have to pull you from your current school so you can attend the public school in the town you'll temporarily be living in."

"Oh. Won't my friends here wonder where I'm going?"

"Most likely."

"Can I have some time to think this over?"

"I'm afraid that you don't have a significant amount of time. The boy has only died a few minutes ago. No one knows, but if you don't make a decision soon, the ones who were with him during this accident will get tired of waiting and figure it out."

"Oh... Well, I guess I can do it. It doesn't sound great, but it can't be horrible."

Vlad's expression grew slightly grim, even in having prior knowledge that this was the probable outcome. He nodded and turned to find Clockwork again, but instead found him hovering behind him.

"It's settled then. Are you ready to go, Danny?" Clockwork asked with a warm smile. Danny looked to Vlad, and then back to Clockwork.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

Clockwork nodded and then he and Danny vanished from view in a puff of smoke. Vlad sighed and left the room. He might as well get started on pulling Danny from school and everything else he may need to do to make sure this mission works.

He still didn't want to believe that he was plunged into loneliness again.

_End Chapter 1!_

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_**P.S. If you want me to continue, please review! I don't want to keep posting chapters if no one reads them! **_


	2. Chapter 2: Mission Start!

**_Hey there! Thank you so much for reading my story and commenting, it made me very happy! I kept getting emails and I got so excited! So I thank everyone who has read and reviewed, I hope I can keep you all happy! I had one question though about the universe concept and what's going on. I think this is one alternate universe, but it intertwines with the normal story line. Since that happens, the normal one becomes different too, so it may be two universes combining into one. I'm not quite sure myself hehe, I hope that kind of answered your question! Yeah, this chapter is about the same length as the first. I meant for it to be longer, but I'm not all that great with chapter breaks. Please R&R and lemme know if the second chapter is good!_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own anything._**

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**_Chapter 2 Start! :)_**

Danny felt the overwhelming yet enjoyable weightlessness of teleportation as he and Clockwork left the Masters' Mansion in favor of new surroundings. Danny had only recently learned the ability through training and learning from his father, but even though he had most likely overused it by now, he still loved it. It made him feel as if he could go and be anywhere he wants, anytime. It gave him a sense of freedom. It's not as if he felt smothered by his father, not even close. Vlad tried his hardest to make sure Danny was happy and comfortable at home and at school as well, if possible. He never set many rules for Danny to follow, claiming he had enough trust in his son to know what was right and wrong - and make the correct decision between the two choices. Danny hardly ever got in trouble, he tried very hard to make his father proud, and that he did. But, sometimes troubles at work, or even in the Ghost Zone, put Vlad on edge. That edginess extended to Danny subconsciously and when Vlad picked up on it, he would worry and fuss. That, Danny did not like. He never liked worrying his father, even though sometimes it was necessary. Like now.

As the exhilarating feeling of teleportation wore off, Danny slowly took in the new area. It appeared as if he was in a long metal tube, with metallic vessels running along the ceiling, walls, even the floor. They came together in the back creating a strange web-like appearance. Danny knew instantly what this was. It was a ghost portal! His eyes widened in realization, knowing now how the boy he would be replacing died. The boy wasn't as lucky as Danny's father. Danny sighed and looked up to Clockwork, silently asking what he did now. Clockwork laid his hand on Danny's head, transferring all of his thoughts - on this certain subject - to Danny's mind. Through this quick transaction, Clockwork explained everything telepathically.

"Daniel, the boy you are going to be replacing is shy and weak. He is bullied and has low grades. He has an overachieving older sister named Jasmine. His two friends are named Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley. Both of his parents are inventors and ghost hunters, and they don't pay much attention to their children. They are both old college friends of your father's, although Vladimir would beg to differ. If you are going to be replacing this boy, you need an alibi for your survival. So, we will use the same basic idea of how your father earned his ghost powers. I believe you know well enough how that worked, yes?" Once he received a nod, Clockwork continued, "You will become half ghost from this accident. You use these newfound powers to protect this town from the specters that come from the portal and-"

Clockwork found himself cut off as Danny asked a question, "I'm friends with a lot of ghosts that like visiting the Human Realm. Do you want me to fight them? I'm not sure if I want to do that..."

"I have that taken care of. Everyone you are fond of in the Ghost Zone knows about your mission, and if I missed anyone I'm sure they'll hear about it eventually." the boy in front of Clockwork visibly relaxed and Clockwork continued, "As I was saying before, you will act as the town's protector as your ghost half. When you are acting as your human half, you must be as similar to the boy as possible. I have placed everyone here except for us in Time Out already, you'll just take the boy's place and I will take him away. Do you think you can do this mission and do it well?"

"I think so, but there's one thing you haven't told me. What is this kid's name?" Danny questioned, curiosity dancing in his eyes.

"His name is the same as yours, Daniel." Clockwork smiled.

"That's kind of... creepy." Danny frowned. It was like the alternate universe him had died, and he was filling in. It was just weird.

"Well, you should probably get going. The moment I start time again, the boy will die in front of them and we will have no other chances to fix this timestream." Danny nodded and Clockwork took his hand off of Danny's head, leaving extra bits of information as well in the hopes of boosting the chances of mission success. Not without ruffling his hair a bit first though. He led Danny towards the boy, the other Danny, who stood bracing himself against the mouth of the portal, plumes of smoke stuck where they were from their action of rising off of the boy's clothes and skin. Danny winced. He didn't even want to imagine how bad the portal electrocuted him. Danny had heard the stories from his father of his lab accident, and that had placed him in the hospital. That was just with a smaller prototype. There was no telling how much pain a full sized portal could put you through. Obviously there was enough electricity coursing through him to completely fry the boy, and take his life. Danny still had a hard time thinking of the boy as another Danny. He kind of liked pretending to be the only one. He knew 'Daniel' was a pretty common name, but he never thought he'd end up seeing his identical. It was just awkward. Danny approached the boy and looked up at his mentor.

"So you'll take him, and I just take his place, right? What are you going to do with him?"

"Since he has died, there is a small chance that he may return as a ghost. That is what I will be trying to pursue while you are here." Clockwork stated with a hidden sadness. He never really liked dealing with death.

"Oh, okay then." Danny said, most likely just to fill the oncoming silence now that his questions were answered. Clockwork took a hold of the boy and held him bridal style as he waited for his student to take the boy's place. Once he was in position, Clockwork spoke.

"Be sure to really be the part, Daniel. You really need to act the part in order to make sure this mission is a success." he didn't wait for a reply before tapping his staff to the ground and made his exit, yelling "Time in!" as he departed.

Danny made sure to attempt a stumble as he exited the portal. He had to make it all believable, right? He had to make things big!

"Danny!" he heard a voice call out in worry. He looked up to see two people, most likely his new best friends. He wasn't sure what to do then, so he just dropped, feigning buckling knees. He felt hands slowly easing him to the ground. He sat, legs folded underneath him, breathing heavily. How was a situation like this supposed to play out? He was wishing he had taken that acting class in his school. Old school now. He'd just have to wing it.

"Danny, are you okay?" another voice asked, this one was definitely a girl. He didn't really care at this point, he was just happy they were talking. There was no way he was going to do any of the talking! What the heck would he even say?! He nodded.

The other voice spoke, "Dude, you look different." Danny looked up to see the girl elbow the boy who just spoke in the stomach.

"Shut up, Tucker. You're gonna freak him out! But, you are right. He looks different. His colors have been reversed. I'll get a mirror."

Danny felt her hand leave his shoulder as she went off in search of a handheld mirror. Great, what was he going to do now? He already knew what his ghostly persona looked like, it's not like he could be greatly surprised by it! The girl returned and handed it to him, and that signalled to Danny that he had no time to think this over. It was all going to be on-the-spot decisions. He held the mirror up so he could see himself. Then, he decided, instead of reacting to his looks, he would just conveniently go intangible and drop the mirror. As the mirror was suddenly in gravity's grasp, in dropped to the hard metal floor and cracked.

"Am I ghost?!" Nailed it! To add to the effect, he started tugging at his hair. It made him seem more panicked. At least, he hoped it did.

"Dude, calm down, you're fine! So you look a little different and you have a hard time holding things, it'll all be okay!" the one that was now identified as Tucker said in an attempt to calm the situation.

"But what if I died?! I don't want to be a ghost!" then, for drama's sake, he reverted back to his human half. "Whoa, what the-"

"See Danny? It was probably just temporary!" the girl cheered.

"Sam's right, you're back to normal now!" Tucker quickly agreed. Danny thought back to everything he had learned from Clockwork about this mission.

He then spoke in a lower tone, "We can't tell anyone about this."

"Why? Shouldn't your parents know?" Tucker asked. Then Sam punched him in the arm and he gave a cry of "Hey!".

"Tucker, think about it. Danny is now half ghost. His parents are ghost hunters." she said slowly. When Tucker's face melted into one of realization, she asked, "Get it now?"

"Yeah. Dude, this could be dangerous!"

It already was dangerous, but whatever. "Yeah, I know."

"Well, your parents will be getting home soon, do you want to go play video games?" Tucker asked with an eager smile. Funny how fast they forgot about the situation. Danny nodded and then followed his new 'friends' up the stairs.

And he could swear he heard Clockwork laughing.

**_End Chapter 2! :(_**


	3. Chapter 3: Danny's Thoughts

_**Here is chapter 3! I'm glad people like this - unless they're lying to me - and I hope you continue to enjoy my story! Quite a few of you said you had ideas, I'd love to hear them! Oh, and I'm not quite sure I labeled this story correctly with its genre, characters, and rating. If you could let me know what your thoughts are on that, that'd be great! And I thank everyone who reviewed! I loved hearing your comments and what you had to say! For those of you who asked questions, I plan on answering them as the story progresses, so don't worry! All will be revealed! And I'd like to thank Kimiko1234 for her continued support! And everyone else who supported me by following this story and/or adding it to their favorites list! Okay, I'm done rambling.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the show.**_

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**_ Chapter 3 Start! :)_**

Danny soon discovered that everything he had learned from Clockwork about this mission was a complete understatement. His new parents were so absorbed by their research and work that they barely even knew when he was there. His new friends were basically based off of basic high school stereotypes. Sam was the outcast goth trying to make a difference, and Tucker was the nerdy computer geek who couldn't even get a girl to look at him without disgust gracing her features. His new sister was overbearing and extremely protective. He had yet to go to school though. He wasn't really looking forward to finding out what public school was like. His father had told him once that it was way different from private school. He wasn't quite sure how his father would know the differences, from what he could tell, Vlad had only attended a charter school up through twelfth grade and then was off to university. Danny preferred not to dwell on the subject, school was never a particular interest of his and he didn't really feel the need to go to extra lengths to learn more about the education system. It all seemed to be pointless knowledge at this point.

Today would be his first day attending public school as Danny Fenton. It may have been different if he could attend as Masters, who he truly was, since that Danny was confident and had high self esteem. This Danny however, was very shy and unsure of himself. And it was extremely hard to act that way! Danny had already had two lectures from his sister on the benefits of high self esteem and likely reasons to why his had risen, but in actuality his never rose in the first place. It was always high. Vlad had instilled pride and confidence in him even from a young age and it stuck with him throughout his entire fourteen years of life. But, now he had to be shy, bullied Danny Fenton. What was it like to be bullied? Danny could honestly say he had never been picked on. Whether it was out of respect of his lineage, or just people trying to get good connections, it had never been a very big thing in his life. He never really noticed any bullying either - if he did, he was sure to step in and put a stop to it. So how was he supposed to act? What would he say when he did get bullied? He certainly couldn't reply as the son of Vlad Masters, that was for sure. He didn't really have anyone to ask either. His father would likely not know, or have very little knowledge of it, and Clockwork, who knows where he was? Even though he probably had extensive familiarity with that subject, being the master of time and all, it would be very hard to find him with no knowledge of where everything was in the Ghost Zone from this particular entrance. Danny was basically out of luck.

He sighed in exasperation as he trudged down the stairs; he had taken the time while his new family was asleep to learn the house and its layout. He thought he was doing a pretty good job pretending to be a boy who was the complete opposite from him excluding appearance, but even he knew he sucked at acting. He was seriously wishing he had turned Clockwork down on this mission. I mean, the time stream isn't worth all of this trouble! He passed the living room and entered the kitchen, finding Maddie waging war against ecto-infused breakfast. Again. Why was it taking so long for her to just destroy one simple fried egg? He shook his head and went to the fridge to find some juice. He needed some juice. He searched around in the fridge, pushing items to the side in trying to find the desired beverage. Once he had located the carton, he pulled it out and shuffled over to one of the cabinets - the one he discovered glasses and cups were placed in - and pulled a glass down from its perch. He opened the carton and poured the cold liquid into the glass, stifling a yawn. Once it was full enough to satisfy him, he closed the cabinet - Why hadn't he done that earlier? - and made sure the juice was shut tight before returning it to its place in the fridge. He took a seat at the table, completely ignoring the battle still carrying on above him. He knew that these breakfast foods were low power, meaning they were of no threat. He looked up when Jazz entered, pausing in the doorway to watch her mother fend off the savage breakfast. After a few moments of watching, she decided to sit at the table and converse with whom she believed to be her brother.

"Danny, if you'd like, I can give you a ride to school today." she offered. Danny looked at her and quickly nodded. He had no clue where the school was! Thank goodness she offered to drive! He didn't think he wanted to experience being late yet. He at least wanted to get a feel for his new teachers before he went and made them angry. Although, he was already starting out with lower grades, and most likely some teachers harboring grudges. They had most likely had high expectations of him, coming in after his star student sister, and he had let them down. Danny didn't know how that worked either. He didn't understand anything about having a sibling! He was an only child after all. He just hope he'd catch on...

He was rattled fro his thoughts as Jazz spoke again, "Well, it's about time to go. Ready to go, Danny?"

He nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be..." He thought as he stood up from the table, chair legs scraping against the floor with a squeak. He placed his glass in the sink quickly, hoping that was what average class people did after they finished with dishes. He usually had the family cooks and maids clean. Everything was so different...

He grabbed his purple backpack, still not finding the humor in the color, and followed his sister out the door.

The ride to school was silent, and Danny was extremely grateful. He still wasn't quite sure how he should speak to her. It was just a strange concept. When he felt the car pull to a stop, he looked up to see Jazz unbuckling her seatbelt and opening the car door. He supposed he should do the same, but he didn't really want to. He could tell today was going to be a long, painful day and he wasn't looking forward to it. He begrudgingly copied Jazz and stood from the car with his backpack slung over his shoulder. He followed her to the front door, already seeing groups of kids from all grades loitering on the school grounds. He could already see cliques and how prominent all of their qualities were. It was like this new world was trying to be just like television! He could see the jocks with their footballs and letterman jackets, flaunting the school's colors, he could see the beauty obsessed girls cooing over each other's bright makeup and gossiping about who was dating who. He also saw the goth students with their eyes heavily lined in black and taking refuge under umbrellas, trying to hide from the sun. If all of these groups were so blatantly seen, where would he fit as who he was now? Or as the real him? His private school had more subtle groupings, he didn't even think there were groups like these! He climbed up the steps to the front doors of the school and stepped inside, waving a temporary goodbye to Jazz as they parted ways. He took another step before realizing something and freezing.

Clockwork hadn't ever mentioned what his class schedule was! Panic began to course through him. Of course something like this happens. It was like Clockwork enjoyed watching him flounder around in a frenzy! What could he do now? The secretary would think he had gone insane if he went and asked her! It was already half way through the second semester! He had a cell phone, maybe he could call his father? But what would he do? He probably doesn't even know what school he's at! Well, it was worth a try at least. He had ten minutes before the bell rang, ten minutes to figure out what to do. He made his way to the closest bathroom and stepped inside. Wow, already a huge difference from his old school. This bathroom was so small! And it wasn't very nice either. Oh well, he figured it was just since this wasn't such an elite school like his old one. Putting his thoughts on school bathrooms to the side, he made his way into the only stall and tried to ignore the derogatory writing on the walls. He pulled out his cell phone, a flip phone at that which was way different from his personal cell phone he had left at home. He dialed the familiar number of his father's office number, hoping Vlad's secretary would put him through and not just ignore his call since it was from a different number. It rang several times before the secretary's excessively cheery voice answered.

"Vlad Masters' office, how may I help you?"

"Hello, can you put my father on the line please?" Danny asked politely.

"Oh, Daniel! Of course, right away!" she said merrily before she transferred the call. Once Vlad picked up, Danny sagged with relief.

"Hello little badger, I was expecting a call from you." Danny could almost hear his father's smirk over the phone. "You need your class schedule, correct?"

"How did you-? Never mind... So you have my schedule?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, indeed I do. And don't think I don't know you Daniel, you are my son after all. Now, I'll send your class schedule to your phone so you can look at it throughout the day. Is there anything else you need, Daniel?"

"Hmm... I don't think so. Thank you very much dad!" Danny said, finally feeling himself relax.

"You're very welcome, my boy. If you need anything else, I've made sure my secretary knew that you had a new number and to be sure to answer." Vlad replied happily.

"Okay, thanks. Bye dad!" he said in gratitude.

"Goodbye Daniel." then the line went dead and Danny pressed the end call button. He then looked through his text messages for his schedule, and once he found it he quickly worked on finding where it was.

The English classroom wasn't too hard to find, but he was pressed for time, adding pressure. Once he had managed to find it, he quickly moved to sit in an empty desk. He slid down into the hard plastic seat, just as the late bell echoed throughout the now empty school hallways. Danny ran a hand through his hair, exhausted. He could tell today was going to be a long day.

He was just happy he made it on time.

**_ End Chapter 3!_**

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**_Please R&R, and I hope you enjoyed!_**


	4. Chapter 4: Danny's First Struggles

**_I'm sorry this took a while and that it's short... I'm busy and tired haha. I'll try to add another chapter before this weekend ends. I'll at least start the next chapter (and it'll definitely be longer... I feel bad about this one...)! So let me know what you think, give me ideas, suggestions, questions are good too! I'm trying to answer the questions I get through the story so I hope I do okay with that. Please R&R and I hope you enjoy this new, albeit short chapter!_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or any of its characters._**

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**_Chapter 4 Start!_**

"Mr. Fenton!" the voice of Danny's new English teacher called for the umpteenth time, his voice now harboring an untamed annoyance that wanted loose. Danny finally looked up, hoping that this Fenton kid would answer sometime soon. This was getting tedious. Danny looked around, hoping to find this kid. Maybe he was sleeping or something. Why was everyone staring at him? Wait, he was Fenton wasn't he? Dang it...

"Could you repeat the question?" Danny asked, really hoping he got used to being called 'Fenton' soon. He was sure he had angered all of his teachers today. Thank goodness it was finally the last class of the day. Too bad it was English, though. Danny was too tired for reading.

"I asked you if you could pay more attention, Mr. Fenton. Stay after class, I'd like to speak with you." Danny hung his head at his English teacher's words, as it was now weighed down with clouds of disappointment and a depression that had been growing throughout the day. And wow he had a headache. Funny how he just noticed.

He could feel Sam and Tucker's concerned gazes roll across him as Mr. Lancer continued his lecture. His monotone really made the subject - Shakespeare - much more boring than it really had to be. He drawled on and on, not really noticing that none of his students were paying any attention. This was another difference. Danny hadn't really noticed until now, but at his old school, most of the students seemed to pay more attention to the subject material. Whether that was because the teachers had a low level of tolerance or just that the students cared more, he couldn't really tell. He just knew they listened to their teachers and took good notes. Good notes were always a good thing. Especially an open note quizzes. That might explain why the majority of them had grades higher than a B.

Here, at Casper High, Danny could tell just from looking at people who had the good grades and who had the bad grades. Most of the boys in letterman jackets probably had D's, C's at the highest. They simply didn't care enough to try. The people Tucker hung out with, they probably had a mixture of A's, B's, and C's, depending on which subgroup they were in. Yes, subgroups. Danny had come to realize that most of the big cliques, like the jocks, goths, band kids, and so on, all had smaller groups within the bigger group. Danny would have never guessed beforehand. His school probably had a similar student class system, but he never really noticed. Or cared. Here, it was just so blunt and in your face it was hard to ignore.

Danny straightened when the final bell rang, releasing a horde of students from their desks and out the door, eager to escape the school's confines. Danny sighed as the room emptied. Now he understood why the gym teachers weren't very pleased with a large amount of the student body. They don't even run half as fast in gym class!

He looked up to see Mr. Lancer at his desk, looking absolutely wiped out. It wasn't a long day for just Danny, he supposed. He approached his teacher's desk, hoping this conversation would be over quickly. He just wanted to go back to his house. It wasn't his home, homes are permanent (until you move, at least). This was a house, a house he was staying in temporarily. Soon he would be out of the red brick house with the large obnoxious sign adorning the front, and back in his father's mansion in his own bed and with family actually related to him by blood. He may only have his father - Danny couldn't remember his mother, and whenever he asked about her, Vlad explains that only one good thing came from that (Danny had a feeling that meant him) - but it was his family. He didn't need a mother and a sister to go with. He was perfectly happy.

He was shaken from his thoughts as Mr. Lancer broke the heavy silence in the room with a deep excusatory cough. Danny looked up to see his new English teacher standing with his arms crossed, and a look of concern drawn on his features.

"Mr. Fenton, you seem different today. Are you okay? You know you can talk to me or any of the other teachers if you are having any problems. In or out of school." he said slowly, trying to make sure he got his point across.

Danny's confidence level dropped a bit. He really was a bad actor. He may have been good enough for his peers, friends - even though they thought he had a reason to be different anyways, and parents who didn't pay enough attention to really notice, but his teachers, they were a completely different story. They had to pay attention, it was their job. Well, scratch that, they didn't have to, they chose to. Most of them. He looked up at Mr. Lancer again, speaking with a slight smile, "Yes, Mr. Lancer, I'm fine. And I know I can go to any of the teachers with questions or for help."

Danny could see suspicion worm its way onto Lancer's face. Oh how he hated suspicion. Suspicion was so rude! Danny mentally face palmed. He had been too polite! That wasn't like the Fenton kid at all! He had to get out of the "Be respectful to adults" and "Mind your manners" mindset. It was really making things hard for him!

"Well Mr. Fenton, I'm glad you know that. All of us would be happy to help you. You may go now." Danny relaxed significantly, having felt his muscles tense when he had realized his earlier mistake. He made for the door, only to stop when Mr. Lancer continued, "And please, pay better attention in class." Danny gave a hesitant nod before bolting.

He never thought he could hate school so much! He was never a huge fan in the first place, but this took things to the next level! He now understood why all of the reality TV shows he'd seen had school-hating children. School was insane!

Danny pushed the front door of the school open, taking in the breath of fresh air. He figured he should probably find Sam and Tucker, but he still wasn't sure he really liked them. And they'd ask him questions about his well-being and his "new" ghost half. He didn't like those questions. He had already gotten plenty of those at lunch. He didn't want more!

He sighed as he slowly descended the stairs that he had climbed with his sister in the morning. He was pretty sure she was already home, leaving no free ride home waiting in the parking lot. His friends were nowhere to be seen - how could everyone in school disappear so quickly?! - so he had no personal GPS system either. Neither one of them. Danny supposed finding the bright red house wouldn't be too difficult. It had a gigantic neon sign flashing above the front door! Not to mention a rather large OP center sitting on top of the roof... Maybe he could find his way back!

Danny began to start pacing, wondering what he should do. Then, he perked up with a grin on his face, not really realizing that it was more of self shame moment for not thinking of this beforehand. He could transform and just fly back! That was a great idea! He looked around, wanting to find an adequate hiding place. There may not have been any people around, but he didn't really want to chance transforming right out in the wide open. He walked with a skip in his step towards the back of the school, excited he would be able to fly for the first time in a few days.

That smile disappeared when he walked right smack into Tucker. Of course. Now he'd have to walk. Fantastic.

"Hey man! We were wondering where you were! What took you so long?" Tucker asked.

Danny's meeting with Lancer wasn't that long. He was probably just impatient. Danny didn't answer, he was already being dragged away from the school. Sam and Tucker were taking turns talking, chatting his ears off. Danny already had a headache, he could tell it was only going to get worse. He just hoped they were walking him to his place. Then he could take a nap. Yes, a nap sounded very nice.

Unless his friends planned on hanging out with him for a while. Oh well. He'd deal with that when it came.

**_End Chapter 4!_**


	5. Chapter 5: Clockwork's Thoughts

_**Hey! I know this isn't long, I'm sorry! And I didn't get it out when I said I would, but I tried! But, now here's a new chapter, and I hope you enjoy! I think I've started getting into the plot... We'll have to wait and see! So please R&R, it makes me very happy, and let me know what you think! I like suggestions and ideas too! Oh, I can't get it to format right, I've been trying really hard! So, I'm sorry if this is hard to read, I'm hoping I get it figured out soon...**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.**_

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**_ Chapter 5 Start!_**

Danny flopped down on his bed, still finding the feeling of using someone else's bed awkward. He really preferred his own bed in his own home. He felt much safer with his father down the hall. Now, he's in a house with ghost hunters sleeping down the hall from him, and that just makes him feel uneasy at night. Who knows what those crazy hunters could do to him in his sleep? He let out a sigh, completely exhausted. Sam and Tucker had dragged him all over the place, from the school to Tucker's place, to the Nasty Burger, and back. Danny wasn't a fan of stuffing his face with burgers and fries drenched in grease, waves of nausea washed over him when he even thought about that experience. He still felt queasy. He just wanted to get back quickly, but apparently that wasn't on the Fenton boy's agenda...

Danny was thankful that the blonde brutish boy he learned of from Clockwork was out sick that day, either that or he decided to skip knowing there was no football practice to go to. Danny didn't need his first day of school to be even harder with bullies beating on him every other passing period. It was hard enough with half of the staff angry at him for some reason or another, plus the completely different education structure. Danny couldn't believe how far ahead he was in the curriculum! He had already learned this stuff in middle school! At least that made classes easier on him. The homework would take minimal effort anyways, but considering the fact the Fenton is a student with low grades, Danny would only have to write down random answers, if any at all. He had to keep up the act, as horrible as he was starting out with it. Danny wasn't sure what his father would say, he wasn't fond of grades lower than a B. Danny had always been reprimanded when he scored low on a test or lost points on an assignment. Vlad had always told him that he held Danny to such high standards because he knew Danny was capable of it. What did that say about the Danny he was filling in for? Was it the boy himself? Or the parents? Danny couldn't tell. He figured he would have had to meet the boy to be able to gauge his assumptions better. Or he just needed to spend more time as the Fenton kid. This mission definitely was long term, Clockwork hadn't lied about that. Danny wasn't sure he would want to do this for much longer. Hopefully things would get easier.

Danny's stream of thoughts began to slow. He then entered the realm of unconsciousness.

Clockwork watched the time stream with rapt attention. There were so many different paths time could take, and being a veteran time master, he knew all too well how unpredictable the time stream could be. Just adding one more word to an unimportant sentence could trigger a sharp U-turn, sending it spiralling down a horrid nightmarish path far from the path of happiness and life that it had been riding before. It was Clockwork's job to make sure it stayed on the right path, whether it was good or bad. Sometimes this job is easy and he can sit back and watch time glide through events as it should, not having to worry about something going wrong. Other times though, it was extremely hard to tell what could happen.

This was one of those cases. There were more corrupt, rotten paths than there were good. Clockwork saw each of these paths, and the events leading to the climax. He would say end, but time doesn't end. It keeps going, it doesn't stop. Unless there is a reason to put it on pause. But, even still, as one time is put on pause, there is still time during this break. It ticks by slowly, seconds to minutes to hours and so on. So in truth, it never stops. It doesn't stop for anyone, not even the master of time himself.

With this in mind, Clockwork knows that time is uncontrollable, much to the Observants' annoyance. Clockwork never wished for this job, especially in his after life. He could remember that he never really liked math when he was alive. And to his dismay, that was a big part of his job. The time stream was heavily based on probability, there was an infinite amount of the combinations it could make with the paths it takes. Right now, the odds of getting the path leading to a good future for all, was extremely slim. That was what had Clockwork so worried.

He was not a fan of conflict, not at all. Clockwork did not function well with conflict. Although, without it, there is never a good story. So he knows there must always be a conflict, no exceptions. But, in most of the paths he could see, there were multiple conflicts. Smaller ones, all leading to a large obnoxious one. There was no way to avoid it. He only wished he could set fire to all of the roads he did not approve of time going down. It would make his job so much easier!

Clockwork turned away from his view of time, letting it ripple out of sight. It was giving him a headache. He looked over at the boy he had taken from his home - and death - not too long ago. The boy had still to wake. Clockwork knew that if the boy did become a ghost, time would go down the one path that meant more work for Clockwork. More work and more conflict. Clockwork wasn't sure he really felt up to the task, but considering that he had to keep time on the right path, this was the one he would have to aim for. Being the master of time was like being a bull wrangler...

Clockwork knew of the boy's intentions even before that path was even set in stone. This boy would cause so much trouble, but it would keep time on the correct path.

Clockwork really hoped his student was up to the task. If Clockwork let time take a turn down a road that lead to Danny getting hurt in some way, he was sure Vlad would have major issues. Vlad tended to be a bit overprotective sometimes. Not that Danny really knew or cared, it was all he knew. Clockwork feared that Danny would not function well in a household that contrasted his own so well. So many paths portrayed Daniel's confusion and panic slowly rising as he spent more time in the Fenton household and the odds were extremely opposed to the ever more favorable paths where Danny does well in his new environment. The odds were just stacking themselves against the good, making Clockwork's uneasiness grow. Sure, he could always backtrack time, but that just made the Observants angry and told them that Clockwork couldn't handle his job as well as they had originally thought. Clockwork could handle his job well though, and every human made mistakes. Maybe that was where the Observants got the idea that a mistake meant that the master of time was incapable of doing his job.  
He wasn't human after all...

Clockwork turned to the boy, still clothed in a strange red and white t-shirt and sporting a pair of worn out sneakers. Once he woke up as a ghost - if that happened - Clockwork figured he would need to find the boy some new clothing. As he was now, he would never fit into the Ghost Zone, no matter how ghostly he was! Clockwork knew he had a lot of work to do, now and soon to come.

If he were alive right now, he knew he would have been craving an extra long nap. He would also not have to deal with everything he was currently dealing with. It would all be dumped onto some other unlucky person. Clockwork supposed that was a bit selfish. But hey, the master of time could be selfish if he wanted to be. He at least deserved that right.

He sighed and moved to turn back towards the time stream again, when movement caught his eye. He looked back towards the black haired boy, and found that the boy's hands had folded into fists. They rose together up to the boy's eyes, and rubbed at them a bit, as if he was waking from a good night's sleep. Really he was just waking up from death, but that was besides the point. Clockwork watched with a mixture of relief and ire, the first stemming from the knowledge that the time stream was moving as it should, and the latter coming from knowing he would have a lot of work to do soon. Then, luminous blue eyes opened, clouded with confusion and fear.

Yes, Clockwork would have a lot of work to do.

**_ End Chapter 5!_**


	6. Chapter 6: Vlad's Thoughts

**_Hello! I have a new chapter for you, and this one is all about Vlad's feelings about all of this. And I'm not sure, but I feel like I may be a bit slow getting out of exposition and moving into an actual plot. I'd love to hear your input on all of it, let me know if it's too much detail, too little detail, no plot, too slow, etc. It would really be helpful! Because, like I said earlier, this is my first story that I'm breaking into chapters, so I'm not quite sure if I'm doing it right. So R&R and lemme know what you think! I'd also like to thank Kimiko1234 for helping me format this better! She even fixed all of the previous chapters for me! And thank you pearl84 for giving me pointers! _**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom._**

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_Chapter 6 Start!_

To say Vlad was upset, was an understatement. His estate now seemed so quiet and empty. It was never really all that lively, but now it just seemed sort of dead. The maids were never there full time, they did have personal lives too. Without Daniel around, the place just seemed so desolate. Vlad never really liked being lonely. Truthfully, he hated it. It all seemed okay though when Daniel came along.

Vlad wasn't quite sure how Daniel came to be, he never could remember all of the details. All he could remember was a business meeting with a woman and a lot of red wine. He wasn't quite sure what all had happened - it was all a blur - but around nine months later, the woman made a reappearance, carrying the one Vlad now knew as his son. He could remember the woman saying that she couldn't take care of the infant any longer, she had no experience, diminishing funds, and the boy was doing strange things. Strange things like disappearing and getting a limb somehow stuck inside the crib itself.

That was when Vlad knew he was his son. The boy had ghost powers, no doubt from him. Where else could the boy have gotten such abilities? Vlad never saw the woman again, but he didn't really mind. She didn't matter. And really, Daniel's parentage didn't really matter either. He was Vlad's son and that was all that Vlad cared about. Vlad was just happy he finally had someone to share his life with. He had resolved to teach him everything he had learned over the years, give him advice. He wanted to spend his money, the money he never knew how to spend in the first place, and even spoil the boy. He wanted to give his son everything he had never had when he was younger. He wanted to give his son the best life he could.

Vlad really would have preferred to have Daniel with him, considering he was really the only thing that mattered in his life. He could understand the boy wanting a bit of freedom to leave the protection and love that his father provided to go on a short mission for his mentor or just to have a little time to himself, but this was an assignment with an indefinite amount of time. And for the majority of that indefinite amount of time, Danny would be living under the roof of the people that betrayed his father and left him alone in the first place. It always lead back to them. Vlad figured they had made it their goal. They wanted to leave him in the depths of a black sea of loneliness. It couldn't have been out of vengeance, Vlad was sure he had never done anything to them to earn their spite.

No, they must have just been despicable people from the very beginning! They probably never held value in the friendship they had all forged during their days in college.  
Unless they were just ignorant. Extremely ignorant.

It didn't matter now, it was all in the past. Vlad only felt himself tense with vexation every time he so much as thought about the whole situation. He swore the Fentons wanted to ruin his life and now buried happiness.

Vlad was just feeling so angry lately. Angry at the Fentons for past offenses - and probably future ones too, angry at Clockwork for instilling such high morals in his son (and giving him the idea that saying 'no' every once in a while would end up with someone in mortal danger), angry at himself for being so compliant and submissive, the list goes on and on and on.

He was really wishing he had opposed the idea more, even though he would have lost the argument anyways. He knew better than to challenge the master of time to a battle. Vlad prided himself with having more tact than that. Clockwork was powerful, but with his extreme familiarity with time and knowing Vlad and his fighting style well, it would definitely give him the upper hand in combat. Sometimes Vlad just found himself loathing the ghost. But that was okay.

Vlad really hated to have his son away from his protection. And plus, Vlad liked to know how Danny was doing. That was why he took so much time finding out about the town his son would be living in, the school he would be attending, and so on and so forth. Now Clockwork hadn't ever mentioned the where, but that was probably because he knew Vlad already had that information. Just saying the surname Fenton brought the information up in his mind. So, it wasn't hard to figure out what school Danny would be going to. It also wasn't hard to hack the school's computer system and get Danny's schedule, having known the boy would remember he needed his new class schedule at the last minute.  
Danny was usually so on top of things. But, Vlad knew him well enough that if there was enough on his mind, he would become forgetful. Then, when that happened, Vlad would have to try to help him remember. Even when he wasn't right within the vicinity, Vlad could still tell what his son needed. He liked to call that good parenting.

Vlad could only imagine how his son was feeling. Getting thrown into a new environment with no previous experience in it had to be tough. Vlad knew Danny wouldn't function well either. Vlad still asked himself why he let his son go.

That didn't really matter, he supposed. Now he just had to worry about how he would clean up this whole mess after it was done being made. It was sure to be pretty huge. Vlad was not looking forward to it.

He shuffled down a hallway, wondering what he should do to pass the time. He could always do some of the vast amounts of paperwork he had sitting on the desk in his study, or even some of the paperwork he had paperclipped nicely in manilla folders sitting inside of his briefcase which was also conveniently placed in his study. He really didn't want to go there just yet. He needed a little time to relax and unwind after such a long and aggravating day at work. He was tired of employees thinking they should suck up to him hoping to get a raise or a promotion. He was also fed up with the ones who were really rather useless. They didn't even have a clue how to do their job correctly! By the time the day was almost out, Vlad had to resist the very strong urge to blast all of them into the pit of unconsciousness. He would keep reminding himself that after just a little longer, he could go home. But, at home he was still lonely with his son being gone for the time being. He wouldn't have anything to look forward to when he got home. He wouldn't get to hear his son's play by play of events at school, the good, the bad, the fun. Vlad just had empty hallways and a lone seat at the dinner table awaiting his return from work. Vlad knew Danny would call again eventually to check in with him, Danny did care about how his father was doing after all, but Vlad wouldn't get to see his son when he got to speak to him. Vlad held a high preference for talking face to face over speaking through a phone.  
Vlad vaguely considered going to his lab to do research or something. Anything to scupper the overwhelming boredom that had descended upon him like a deadly bird of prey. He hated being bored. It made him feel so utterly useless. Maybe he could go explore the Ghost Zone? Surely he could come up with something to do in there. And if all else failed, he could do his paperwork. He didn't want to though. He really didn't want to.

He continued his less than enthusiastic stroll down the hallway, now aiming towards an excursion into the Ghost Zone. Maybe he could hunt down Skulker and convince him to enter the human realm via the Fenton portal. Then, Vlad felt there would be some kind of initiation, something to start this drawn out mission. He wanted it to end just as quickly as it had started.

Now, with a mostly thought out plan in his head and a goal he felt he needed to reach, he transformed into his ghostly counterpart. He phased down through the many levels of his mansion, wanting to get to his portal.

He needed to hunt down the self proclaimed 'greatest hunter in the Ghost Zone' and once that was out of the way, he would be one step closer to having his son back with him. Back where he belonged, and loneliness banished once again from Vlad's life. Vlad couldn't help the smirk that slipped onto his face with his growing anticipation. The least he could do was make this whole thing more interesting for everyone.

And that was exactly what he planned to do.

_End Chapter 6!_


	7. Chapter 7: Revenge

**_Hello! This is just a really quick update and I hope you like it! I think it is the last one just stating the feelings of a character for the very beginning. I think next we will move into actual plot. So R&R and lemme know what you think of this!_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom._**

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_Chapter 7 Start!_

He sat unblinking, adding to the strange atmosphere floating about him, waiting for the blue ghost to return. Clocks and gears sat in their blissful levitation, ticking and turning, leaving no room for silence to penetrate his surroundings. He wasn't sure how he had gotten there, he didn't care. He knew that the strange blue ghost with a cloak had been there when he woke up. He was half expecting the specter to explain to him what all had happened, as a doctor would after you wake up in the emergency room and have no clue how a simple cold could have spiraled out of control so quickly, but no such explanation came. He only received an introduction from the ghost, saying his name was Clockwork. It didn't matter either way, he supposed. He already knew. He could see the time stream from behind Clockwork. He saw how the lucky rich boy waltzed in with a smile on his face and took his place in his family. That boy took what was his and was pretending that he owned it. It was his. All his. He had his own family! He couldn't come and take someone else's just because of the fact that they had become a ghost! It wasn't fair!  
It was selfish!  
Didn't anyone care what he thought? Wouldn't his family figure out that he was replaced? Couldn't they see that there was obviously an imposter amongst them?

He remembered vaguely the conversation that he had had with Clockwork when he had first awoken. He had been told that he would be addressed by the letter 'D', considering things would get confusing. Clockwork had never elaborated on that last part, but he could guess what it meant.

That boy had taken his name too. Why was he losing everything he had? His family, name, friends. What else? Surely he couldn't have his interests and hobbies - as scarce as they were in number - ripped away from him along with the rest of his life. It wasn't as if he really cared about any of it now, but still. He didn't think he could take having the idea of being replaced and completely forgotten in favor of this new and improved Danny bouncing around inside his skull.

He just wanted his life back. All of it. He wanted everything that was stolen from him by this imposter. He wanted his heart to beat again.

But, he supposed he couldn't have it. Never again. And that made him so angry. That was the only thing he felt. Anger, rage, fury, and any other word that could express what he was feeling. He found himself incapable of feeling anything else with this extreme fury clouding around him.

He could come up with nothing that could help relieve some of this extreme emotion. The only thing he could think would help, is to watch the imposter suffer, writhe, and agonize. He didn't deserve to succeed in such thievery. He couldn't.

Then, he decided, he could get revenge. Sweet, sweet revenge. He could release his wrath upon this horrible fraud, and smile all the way through. He figured he would enjoy it. He could laugh. He could feel something other than the blinding fury he was currently drowning in, and it would feel so good. It would feel so good to get all of the built-up rage out of his system and raining down upon the fake.

He may not have known much about the Ghost Zone, or even the building he was currently residing in, but he could figure things out quickly. From what he could remember from viewing time with Clockwork, someone spoke of an Infi-map. It could take you anywhere, anywhere you wanted. This intrigued him.  
There had to be ghosts out there that despised the imposter and his father. If only he knew where to look. Then, he could release their wrath upon the pretender as well, and hopefully send that boy into the oblivion. He did deserve it after all. He deserved everything he had coming to him. It could all teach this boy to be happy with what he had, and not go stealing from someone else.

Why would he want his life anyways? Surely he preferred his lavish mansion and lenient, doting father. Right?

It wasn't as if he hated his life when he had it, D was quite fond of it. It was all he knew. And wow, he hated that name. Couldn't he go by his full name of Daniel? Wait, that's too close to 'Danny', the name the spoiled rich kid stole from him!

Yes, revenge sounded extremely satisfying. And he would make sure he got it.

There was no one to stand in his way of revenge either. Clockwork may have known about his schemes for revenge, but he did what he needed to not what he wanted to. It was his job. If revenge was the right path for time to go down, Clockwork would make sure it happened. That man didn't care about anyone else, just himself and time. They were the only things that mattered.

Wasn't Clockwork also called the Grim Reaper? That is also his job, right? Then, D supposed that this was all Clockwork's fault. Clockwork killed him, albeit indirectly, and gave his life to a person who already had one.

If it weren't for the extreme difference in power, he would have definitely made revenge on Clockwork a goal of his as well. But, he was smarter than that. He wouldn't go in search of an end to his afterlife. He needed to release his anger on the imposter first. Then, he could be reckless.

He looked up as Clockwork floated back in, sending him a warm smile and effectively putting D's thoughts on pause.

"Hello D. How was your day today?" he had to squash the urge to sneer at his new 'name'.

"It went well, sir. Although, I think I'd like to be called Daniel, if that's alright with you."

"I suppose that could be fine, although it may hurt you in the long run." Clockwork said, his voice wavering slightly. He knew this was the inevitable path, but he tried to tweak it to his advantage. Obviously that hope crashed and burned to a crisp.

"Thank you sir." he smiled, which was more of a grimace, but smiled nonetheless.

"No problem, Daniel. Now, I need to return to work. I suggest that you take a look around outside, try to get a feel for the Ghost Zone. It'll be good for you to get some fresh air anyways. And maybe you could meet some ghosts." Clockwork said, shifting into his elderly appearance.

Daniel nodded before floating towards the door that Clockwork had just entered, ready to prepare himself for the beginnings of his plan for revenge.

Yes, he could almost taste it now. The sweet, sweet taste of revenge would be absolutely delicious, and he would savor every last bit of it.

_End Chapter 7!_


	8. Chapter 8: Questions and Skulker

**_Hello! I bring you the longest chapter so far! I felt kind of bad about the last one, it was the shortest chapter in all, but I was tired and it was late and I had to get up early the next morning for competition audition things. Yeah.. So, here is a longer chapter, I really hope you like it. I put quite a bit of effort into it. So please R&R and lemme know what you think! And I'd like the thank Kimiko1234 for helping me out last chapter! Okay, enjoy!_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom._**

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_Chapter 8 Start!_

Danny sighed as he continued his trek to his school. He had taken the liberty to learn the town's layout at night. Flying had always relaxed him. After such a panicked first day, he had a feeling that the rest of the school year (and however much longer this whole mission would take), would be one heck of a crazy ride. Danny was still trying to adjust to things, and he had just been lucky on his first day that the brutish bully he had been told would attack him had skipped school. He supposed he wouldn't be as lucky on his second day. He wasn't really looking forward to that...

Danny was sure he'd at least gotten a bit better at pretending to be the Fenton boy though. It hadn't been long, no, but he was sure he had improved, if only a little. But, he couldn't help but worry about his new sister. She was planning on majoring in psychology, and she already knew quite a bit about the study.

He gnawed the inside of his cheek in troubled thought. If anyone was going to notice anything was different with their beloved Danny, it would be her. She would notice the smallest thing, whether that be a slight change in posture, facial expression, how he placed his feet, and the list goes on. Considering how he was brought up, there would no doubt be a huge difference. How could he hide something from her if he couldn't even notice it himself?

He was startled brutally from his thoughts, giving him a skinned cheek from where he had bitten down too hard, when a voice from behind him called his name.

"Danny! What are you doing? School's the other way, man!" Tucker called out from behind, watching (whom he believed to be) his best friend since kindergarten flounder about in surprise and confusion. Danny whipped around to see Tucker's expression of amusement at having startled his friend. "Dude, we gotta go or Sam's gonna leave without us!" Then, Tucker turned and started walking at a brisk pace. Danny heaved a quick sigh before running to catch up with the boy in the obnoxiously colored clothing. Danny still wondered why everyone tended to have multiples of the exact same outfit. It was really just kind of strange. He had been wearing the same shirt ever since he started pretending his surname was Fenton and it was beginning to confuse him. He tried not to think about it too much.

"Sorry, Tuck. I guess I was just distracted." Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck, as his sister had kindly mentioned that morning. She was already noticing miniscule differences. That was just great.

_Danny sat at the kitchen table, contemplating how he had gotten himself into this whole mess. He was really regretting not listening to his father. Don't fathers know best anyways? Well, the master of time thought this was best too, but he wanted the greater good. Vlad wanted what was best for his son, he didn't care in the slightest about all of the other people. Danny let out a huff as he stabbed at his plate of scrambled eggs. They didn't look quite edible, but the impeccable manners that Vlad had instilled in Danny all throughout his life wouldn't allow for him to throw them out. That would be impolite. _

_He didn't quite notice that a loud screeching noise broke the comfortable silence that the kitchen was currently resting in. The other Fentons all looked at him from where they were situated in the kitchen, Maddie trying to cook breakfast, no doubt getting it contaminated with some of the ectoplasm from Jack's ecto-weapon, which he was working on next to her, and Jazz sitting on the other side of the table with a psychology book. _

_That was another rather large difference from his own life with his father. With Vlad, they ate most - if not all - of their meals together, exchanging casual conversation and simply enjoying each other's company. Here, it was more of a "fend for yourself" kind of environment. They ate meals when and where they pleased, and did other things while doing so. There wasn't really any general "family time". It was definitely strange, to say the least._

_Danny felt his face heat up as a blush rose to his cheeks. He didn't want to be noticed! And besides, he was just rude! Stupid unforgiving manners! He began to wring his hands together out of habit - a habit his father was trying to break him out of, saying it didn't show how confident he knew his son could be - and opened his mouth to apologize. Instead, he found himself getting cut off by Jazz as she stated a problem that she obviously felt was obvious._

_"Danny, have you been trying to break yourself out of your old nervous habits? That's wonderful, but you should try not to replace them with a new one, you know. You'll end up trying to break that one too, and it'll get replaced by another habit and it'll become a cycle. Although, I suppose messing with your hands is better than rubbing your neck and touching your hair. Having one habit isn't as bad as two..."_

_By this time, he had tuned her out, having gained the knowledge he really needed from her whole lecture. _

Danny could only imagine how his father would feel. He had been trying so hard to help Danny break his one habit, and here he was, trying to replace it with two more prominent ones. Although he knew Vlad would be slightly angry, he figured none of that emotion would be directed towards him. It would most likely be sent at Clockwork in a string of ecto-blasts and insults, considering the fact that he knew Vlad was already quite angry at the spirit. Danny couldn't help but smirk at the idea of getting hugs and a drawn out and heartfelt apology from his father, right after Clockwork allowed himself to be punished out of his own guilt. He knew Clockwork would be a little annoyed with that, and that pleased Danny. Clockwork tended to get a little overconfident in himself.

He followed alongside Tucker, fantasies playing out in his head, which included Vlad finally playing a video game with Danny out of guilt and the pure desire for his son's forgiveness and Clockwork being extremely lenient in the hope that Vlad's anger would subside sooner rather than later. He knew it would never happen, in light of the fact that everyone would be extremely out of character, but it wouldn't hurt anyone if he just imagined it.

He was too lost in his daydreaming to notice as he and Tucker went up the cemented stairs that lead to Sam's front door. He only really noticed when the door opened to reveal Sam, clad in her usual gothic outfit - even she wore the same outfit everyday! - and this had Danny vaguely wondering how long they had been walking for, and if Tucker had been trying to talk to him at all. Oh well, too late to worry about it.

"Hey guys." Sam greeted happily. The happiness of the strictly goth girl had thrown Danny for a loop, though he supposed he shouldn't really believe much of what the kids at his previous school said about the cliques of a normal public school. None of them really had any true experience in that department.

"Hey Sam!" Tucker greeted, adjusting his backpack before pulling out his PDA and stylus, tapping away. Sam stepped out of her house completely and closing the door behind her, ignoring the cries from her parents confessing their love for her and telling her to have a good day at school.

Danny then spoke his normal polite greeting before he realized his mistake, "Good morning." Sam and Tucker both looked at him in surprise, all while Danny was thinking, _"Oh crap! That was supposed to be Fenton, not Masters!"_

Tucker was the first to shake himself from his stupor before explaining to Sam what he believed to be the problem. "He's been distracted all morning, that's probably what's up. I caught him walking in the opposite direction from your house. He didn't even notice that he was heading for a stop sign!"

_"I was headed for a stop sign? I guess I was distracted..."_ Danny thought to himself before finding Sam's face inches from his own.

"Are you okay, Danny? Is this about what happened with your parents' ghost portal? If it is, you know you can tell us, right? We were there, we know." she said, concern lacing her voice, making it seem exceedingly warm and welcome. Danny knew she was trying to manipulate information out of him to satisfy her own curiosity - as well as Tucker's, no doubt - even though she was probably doing it unintentionally. Living with his father for his whole life, along with going to a school filled with kids who had been taught to do whatever they had to to get what they wanted, had taught him that there were many forms of manipulation. Danny knew himself to be quite well abled in that department, having learned from his father, the master of manipulation. He didn't feel she meant it like that though, she probably was trying to be caring.

She made it really seem manipulative though. She was merely curious. Danny was currently in the process of trying to find a way to explain that things were fine (without giving more away, of course) when he felt a familiar cold feeling spread throughout his chest. It wanted to rise and spread outwards, but by now, he had learned how to control that little feature that came along with his ghostly abilities. He knew exactly what it meant though.

A ghost had come into the human realm, and had entered the vicinity. Danny didn't feel the need to panic (he knew a lot of ghosts, and although some of them weren't exactly fond of him, none of them would have the gall to bring their personal problems to him and start anything. They had a healthy respect and fear for his father, so he was generally protected just from his relation to Vlad.), he figured it was probably one of the ghosts to help him along in his mission. Either Clockwork sent this one to help keep up appearances and make sure time is running smoothly, or Vlad sent it both to test him in his skills and to make sure he was doing okay.

A familiar voice from above called their attention away from Danny, much to his relief. He looked upwards to where Sam and Tucker were staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed. He found himself face to face with a common and well-known visitor to his home.

Skulker sat comfortably in the air, relying heavily on the jet propellers attached to his mecha suit, relishing the bliss that stemmed from the knowledge that the new upgrades to his suit were working well. He looked down to his boss' son, not helping the fond smile that grew on his face. He wouldn't admit it, but over the span of time he had ended up spending with the boy, whether it be babysitting him for a short amount of time while Vlad was out, or having to wait for Vlad to return for a business meeting with him, he had grown slightly attached to the kid. He found it hard not to, really.

He called out the insult he had given the boy as a sort of affectionate nickname, finding it quite well-fitting for the current situation. He was just happy that both Danny and Vlad saw it for its true meaning. "Hey, whelp! I hear that you've become a half ghost punk!" He tried to remember the lines he had come up with to set a battle into motion without actually demanding a fight as per usual.

Sam looked over to Danny, her eyes clouded with confusion. "How does he know about what happened, Danny?"

Wow, Skulker had just blown it by showing up before he could really explain much. Now he'd have to wing it. That seemed like all he had been doing lately...

"Well, he might have seen me when I was practicing in the basement. I wasn't fond of falling through floors." Danny said, thinking back to some of the stories of when his father had first gotten his powers. Who knew they'd be so helpful? Then, he looked back up at Skulker, hoping to continue the act. "Who are you?"

"Whelp, I am the greatest hunter in the Ghost Zone! I hunt down rare species and capture them as trophies. You are the rarest of them all, so I have come to claim you as the newest addition to my collection!"

Sam and Tucker exchanged glances that portrayed their shared perplexity at their best friend's sudden and new bravery. When had he become so fearless? It was especially strange that this bravery was radiating off of Danny in the face of a _ghost!_

"Look, Sulker, or whatever your name is, I have to get to school. I don't have time to listen to you talk." Danny said gruffly. He was pretty sure he was going overboard, but he couldn't help it. And the looks on Sam and Tucker's faces was priceless!

He could find a way to explain later...

The next thing he knew, both Sam and Tucker had screamed his name in panic, and Skulker had him pinned to the wall of a building by his neck. Danny knew Skulker wouldn't hurt him, but he kept up the act. But, Skulker started whispering to him instead, so he wasn't quite able to do so.

"Okay whelp, Vlad asked me to do this so don't worry about fighting me now. That'll come later. I know you're already much stronger than me, even though I hate to admit it, but your father wants me to fight you anyways so he can see areas that you need to improve."

"How will he see us battle?" Danny knew it was a stupid question, but he couldn't help but ask.

"He's got spy bugs everywhere, kid. He said it's for your protection." Skulker replied, his answer ready, having been prepared with the knowledge that Danny would ask that same question. "He also says that he'd like for you to call him often. He didn't say so, but he misses you, whelp. And he's my source of income, so don't go making him emotional! I could end up getting a cut in my paycheck."

Danny could tell that Skulker was saying those things as a cover for his true feelings, seeing as the ghost wanted to keep up a masculine and surly reputation. He nodded slightly in a way that only Skulker would notice, before feeling air on his now free neck and feeling the force of gravity pull him back down to the concrete sidewalk below. Sam and Tucker ran over to him, helping him up, as Skulker hovered again in the air.

"I'll be back later for a battle, whelp! And I'll remember to bring a cage to stash you in!" then, Skulker took off, leaving Danny with his two worried and confused friends.

"Danny, are you okay?!" Sam asked, panic adorning her features.

"Dude, what was that about?" Tucker questioned.

"I'm fine, let's just get going before he decides to come back." Danny said, brushing himself off and going to pick up his discarded purple backpack - he still hated the color! - and began walking off. Sam and Tucker stared at him, completely stupefied as to what they just witnessed, before jogging to catch up with him.

Danny was sure he would kill Skulker later if he was late. He might just do it anyways as punishment for causing such a scene. Danny would never get an easy day during this mission. He was sure of it...

_End Chapter 8!_


	9. Chapter 9: Curiosity and Suspicion

**_Hey there! In order to celebrate the coming of Spring Break, I have made a new chapter! This one is about as long as the last chapter, so have fun with it! I'm still not good with chapters I don't think, but this chapter has some hidden things in it that help lead into later chapters... I am pretty sure at least. Haha. So I'm sorry if it's a bit boring, but it helps lead into the later parts of the story. And I was also thinking about going and naming all of my chapters. What do you all think? And I'm also unsure of the genre I have this story set in, so please let me know what your thoughts on that are too! Okay, please enjoy and R&R!_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom._**

**_P.S. To Kimiko1234, Vlad has become MacubeX._**

* * *

_Chapter 9 Start!_

Vlad was truthfully quite pleased with himself.. Over the course of the day, he had seen Danny successfully defuse the situation with Sam and Tucker, and thwart all of their previous plans to get answers, and Danny had been able to continue the act that Skulker had started in order to pass along Vlad's message. He had taught his son well.

It didn't matter what Clockwork said or thought, Vlad knew his son took after him and not Clockwork. That meant that everything was how it should be. Vlad couldn't really picture himself being very keen on having a son who was more like Clockwork than anyone else. Having a miniature version of the time ghost would ride on his nerves. That wouldn't lessen the love he held for his son, no, but it would make it harder to bond with the boy.

Maybe that was why Clockwork could get so straight with Danny. Clockwork could see that Danny was more like Vlad as well. It was probably the confidence that drove Clockwork to near insanity. But, in Vlad's defense, having a high self esteem can never hurt. It just protects his son from verbal attacks. Being who he was, Vlad knew especially well what kids could say out of jealousy and spite. He had to make sure his son's self confidence could stand up to those blows. Vlad also enjoyed how sanguine the boy could be, and he figured that stemmed from the boy's confidence as well. He knew there could be downsides to having such an oversized confidence, like arrogance and cockiness, but Danny had never shown signs of anything like that.

He figured that Clockwork was against the boy's excessive confidence seeing that Clockwork highly valued humility and modesty. Clockwork probably just feared the worse outcomes from having such a quality.

Vlad couldn't help the scoff that came from that thought. Honestly, Clockwork didn't give him enough credit! Did Clockwork not think he was capable of raising Danny well? Vlad knew he wasn't exactly the most honest and moralistic candidate, but he definitely knew well enough to be able to steer his son in the right direction.

That was yet another reason for Vlad's anger at the specter to grow into rancor. He wouldn't attempt anything though. Both out of self preservation (he knew he couldn't match Clockwork in power) and in thinking about his son's feelings on the matter. Danny would definitely not be very happy with him if he went to attack Clockwork merely out of anger. It was fine in the minority case when Danny felt the same way on a matter, Vlad finding out about how he felt by either having had to coax those feelings out of the boy or Danny having come to him specifically, hoping for advice. There was even one time that Vlad could remember Clockwork coming to him himself. That one was strange...

This may not be one of those cases, Vlad didn't know. He'd have to wait and see. He really did not want to have his son angry with him over anything, he never liked that.

Clockwork tended to try to sway the boy's opinion somehow, and that was what resulted in a brooding Danny holed up in his room. Vlad would have to coax him out to be able to explain his position on the situation, effectively pacifying the drama for the day. Vlad figured that Clockwork was just trying to get his point across.

Vlad swore it was some kind of strange parental war between him and Clockwork. It didn't make sense.

But, Vlad could put off his feelings for the time being (he knew that skill quite well, actually) and focus on the task at hand. It would never do to get distracted by his own thoughts. He pushed his attention back to the screens in front of him that formed a sort of half circle. He hadn't really noticed how dark the room was until now and briefly considered turning on some lights with the worry of ruining his eyesight - something he had scolded Danny for multiple times - but dismissed that thought rather quickly. He could worry about his eyesight later.

Skulker had done his job eminently, as well. Vlad considered giving him a raise in pay, but decided against that. He would give him a boost in pay if he could finish his current assignment with the same amount of effort and dexterity. He couldn't give him one half way through his assignment!

He was currently trying to find a good spot to place a camera in the Fenton living room. He really hoped Danny wouldn't be cross with him for being so overprotective, but he was pretty sure Danny didn't care all that much. He couldn't help his curiosity when the Fentons' front door had opened, revealing his son and two others near his son's age, so he settled the camera down on a wall - he could move it more later - and leaned back to watch the situation. (He didn't plan on constantly watching, that would just be disturbing on several levels, but he felt that having the area bugged would help him keep aware of any other threats to his son's well-being. He did not like the idea of having his son living in a house full of ghost hunting equipment. The cameras were going to set off an alarm if they witnessed anything happen to Danny, leaving none of the work for Vlad to do. He was satisfied with that.) He wondered how long he had been sitting there dealing with the placement of the cameras.

He remembered that he had started fairly early, before Danny had to go to school, but he couldn't imagine he had sat in front of the row of computers for more than eight hours. He then decided it would be in his best interest to turn the lights on, so he stood from his chair and slowly made his way towards the wall where he knew the light switch was mounted on. He felt along the wall for only a second or two, having lived there long enough to know the area that the switch was in, and flipped it upwards. The lights flashed on, the sudden brightness temporarily disorienting Vlad. He blinked until his eyes were adjusted enough to return to his seat. His curiosity still needed to be satiated.

* * *

"So you sure you're okay, dude? I mean, you've been acting a little strange..." Tucker asked hesitantly, as if afraid the question would spark some kind of new anger in his friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just feel a little different, that's all." Danny was never fond of lying, yet he felt he pulled that one off flawlessly.

"Is it just that _stuff_ that's going on?" Sam asked, motioning with her eyes that there was a hidden message beneath her words.

"Yeah, that's probably it." Danny was inwardly beaming, extremely happy that out of all of the things that hadn't been working out in his favor, at least the people were easy to fool. That just made things so much easier on him! Danny opened his mouth to continue, but stopped short of himself when Jazz walked in from the kitchen. She had been carrying a pretty hefty stack of books - no doubt in anyone's mind that they were psychology books - and from where the camera sat on the wall, Vlad could see there were still several others lying open on the kitchen table. The girl had clearly been doing quite a bit of extensive research...

She approached Danny, Sam, and Tucker, a thoughtful look of concentration stained on her face. It was pretty obvious that she had had the expression (or one very similar) sitting on her features for quite a while. "Danny, is something going on? You've been acting a little strange for the past few days..."

Danny looked slightly taken aback at her 'innocent' questioning for brief second, only really noticeable to someone who may have been looking for it. Like Jazz, for instance. He recovered quickly, and Vlad prided himself with the knowledge that he had been able to help get his son to such a level of higher and quicker thinking. Most of their conversations required for quick thinking, that was just how they were. Danny replied almost at the perfect time, making for no real suspicion to be risen, "No Jazz, I'm fine."

Jazz looked at her brother, an air of impassiveness clouding around him. She'd say it was forced emotion, but it seemed pretty legitimate and real. Though, she could never be sure...

"You can talk to me about anything, you know. I can help. I know you think I'm just being an overprotective and nosy sister, but I really can and am willing to help." she said slowly, hoping to reinforce her point. Jazz knew to back off when she saw Danny glance to Sam and Tucker in a strange sort of apprehension.

"Alright, can we go now?" Danny asked, tinting his voice with annoyance. He had been quite proud of himself throughout the entire day! People kept dropping hints about what he should be doing and how he should be acting. They had no clue whatsoever, but it was extremely helpful! Danny had been able to determine that the youngest Fenton had been a kind of shy boy, he didn't have many friends and tended to stick with what he knew and was comfortable with. He had also learned that the boy didn't really have hobbies or interests, except a love for gaming and astronomy. That there may have been the only thing Danny saw as useful in the Fenton kid. Astronomy could actually lead to a career, many actually. It had already been painfully obvious, having become accustomed to sleeping in Fenton's bedroom, complete with NASA posters and model rockets. It was only reinforced even more throughout the day when some upperclassmen in the school science club (at least that's where he thought they were coming from. Keyword: _thought_) had come to try to strike up a very educated conversation with him over the mechanics of the newest prototype model of the so-and-so ship. Danny didn't picture Fenton participating much in one of those conversations, but at least he would know what they were talking about. Currently, it was sounding like a bunch of gibberish. Maybe Danny should read up on some astronomy and space travel...

Jazz looked at Danny peculiarly, before nodding and moving to sit on the couch. She had already begun reading again, flipping back and forth between pages and alternating between different books.

Vlad couldn't help the sigh that came forth. His son had already gotten someone suspicious. Of course. It already looked like Vlad would have to help his son with this assignment.

That was just what Clockwork wanted, wasn't it?

Clockwork just had to go and tweak things to get things the way he wanted. Well, if that's what he wanted, Vlad would make sure he helped more than needed. Clockwork should learn to just keep out of his and his son's business, and not get the involved in his own business.

Okay, maybe Vlad hated Clockwork. Not that he would admit it to anyone but himself, though. His feelings about the time ghost were insignificant and currently unneeded. If and when the time came - whether that be from any of the unlikely possibilities such as Vlad having gained enough power to face Clockwork, his son deciding he shared the same feelings as his father, or any other absurd likelihood - he would make sure his dislike of Clockwork well and widely known.

But that time was not now, so he'd have to wait.

Vlad returned his attention to the screen before him, watching Danny ascend the stairs with Sam and Tucker following closely behind.

That boy may be Vlad's greatest treasure, but he may just end up being the death of him. Vlad set to work, his curiosity for the situation quenched. He really needed to find optimum placement for the cameras soon.

He still had paperwork that he needed to do, sitting on his desk. Not to mention the documents that sat overflowing from his briefcase...

He had a long night ahead of him...

* * *

Danny flopped down onto his bed, feeling extreme relief rush through him. He had thought he had been doing so well! Apparently not. He was just glad he was able to steer Jazz away from the trail of clues he had unknowingly left for her. How many times had she questioned him already in the day's entirety? Danny couldn't remember, he just knew that he had been questioned by the persistent redhead enough to annoy him. He also had a feeling that she would return to pester him again later after Sam and Tucker had left. He wasn't looking forward to that...

"That was close!" Tucker said in in relief. He let out a large puff of air, as if he'd been holding it throughout the entire encounter with Danny's sister.

"Danny, this isn't good. She already knows something is going on." Sam said, concerned. "She's going to find out eventually... We could just tell her. Then no one else can get suspicious too."

"I'm not quite sure people would really care. She doesn't really have many friends." Danny said, trying to make sure he acted as Fenton-like as he could. He was pretty sure he was close. Close enough, anyways.

"Danny, that's not the nicest thing to say, as true as it is. You know she's only worried about you." Sam said, her voice ringing with an almost inaudible disapproval. "I really think it would be best to tell her. It could help out in the long run."

"I'm not really sure I want to tell her though. She can be bossy and nosy and -" Danny abruptly stopped talking when his bedroom door opened. Jazz stood smugly, a smile of victory gracing her features.

"Tell me what?" her voice held boundless delight, pleased with having her suspicions proven correct.

Danny couldn't believe his luck. Surely this had to be Clockwork's doing. There was no way he could fail so early on! There was absolutely no way! He knew he could be better than that. He was better than that.

Of course Clockwork did this. There was no other explanation. So, that meant there was no reason to panic! Maybe he could convince her that it was all because of the 'new' ghost powers, like he did with Sam and Tucker.

"Danny, does this have anything to do with what happened in mom and dad's lab a few days ago?" Jazz persisted. She had the information, she would follow through!

"Wait, how do you know about that?" Tucker asked, oblivious to the identical glares coming from Danny and Sam voicing their thoughts of "Shut up! You're giving it away!"

"We have security cameras in the basement. It wasn't that hard to get the tape and watch it, you know." she then turned her attention to Danny, worry dancing in her eyes. "Danny, that looked painful. Did it hurt?"

Sam jumped in with, "Of course it did! He got electrocuted and killed halfway!"

"What? Killed halfway?" Jazz had known something was up, but this was getting a little strange.

Sam hung her head, uttering an apologetic "oops" before leaving the stage to Danny.

Danny was still confident that this was all Clockwork's doing, so he continued on, ready to reveal what Sam and Tucker already knew. "I became half ghost, Jazz. I'm pretty sure that's why I've been acting a little weird, so yeah."

"Danny, quit playing around." Jazz was now on edge. This was _way_ too weird!

"I can prove it." Danny nodded to himself before reaching over to reach through Tucker's head, sending the boy into a fit of shivers and chills.

The only thing that filled the silence after that demonstration was the sound of Jazz's head hitting the floor with a _thud_...

_End Chapter 9!_


	10. Chapter 10: Back to Daniel

**_Okay! I have a new chapter for you! It may not be as long as the last two, but I find it's definitely more interesting. And, it helps set up the rest of the story! The second half was much more fun to write.. Oh well! I hope you enjoy! And I am changing the rating and one of the genres (for now!) because I'm not quite sure yet. So, if you have a problem with that, let me know! And I'm going to start naming my chapters, so thank you Kimiko1234 for supporting that idea! _**

**_Thank you all so much for all the follows, favorites, and reviews! They make me especially happy to know that people are liking my writing! _**

**_Please enjoy! And be sure to review and let me know what you thought! _**

**_Discaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom._**

* * *

_Chapter 10 Start!_

"Well Danny? What are we gonna do with your sister?" Sam asked, looking up at him for directions. At least that felt closer to his old daily norm. Thanks to his father, he was at the top of his science class - not to mention several of his other classes. Everyone would go to him for help or for answers. They were all little parasitic bloodsuckers, he swore it!

"I don't know, maybe we should put her on my bed." With that plan solidified in his head, and the notion that he was keeping up his act pretty well throughout the whole situation sending off waves of self-accomplishment through his brain, he bent down to 'try' to pick his sister up.

He knew he could do it by himself, he did have access to ghost powers throughout his entire life as did his father. Superhuman strength came with the package. But, he didn't think Danny _Fenton_ could do it all by himself. He looked up to Tucker, who had a pout drawn on his face.

"Yo Tuck! Help me out, would'ya?" Danny couldn't help but inwardly beam. That was the most Fenton-like thing he had said since he started this mission! At least, he thought it was.

Tucker turned his head to look at Danny, the pout even more evident now. "Dude, why'd you do that? That was creepy!"

Danny had no clue what the heck Tucker was talking about. He didn't think he did anything _too_ strange or out of the ordinary within the past few minutes.

The confusion must have played out on Danny's face, seeing that Tucker was quick to clear things up. "I don't appreciate having an arm shoved through my head, dude! It was weird!"

Ah, so that was it. Then this must be a normal occurrence for them! Fenton would do something that Tucker didn't like, Tucker would pout and say he didn't like whatever Fenton had just done, Fenton would be confused, and Tucker would then make his dislike more clear. All of that would happen while Sam stood by, completely ignoring them, her eyes and ears directed elsewhere. From the look on both Tucker's and Sam's faces, he was pretty sure it was normal. Neither of them had shown any shock or bewilderment over how that all played out.

Danny was so happy that these people expressed themselves so openly. They were so easy to read, and they gave away so many clues to how Fenton lived his life. Maybe he could still recover from his - admittedly, many - slip ups!

"Okay Tuck, so are you gonna help me lift her, or not?" Danny prompted. With only a grumble in reply, he got the reaction he wanted. Tucker kneeled down to grab Jazz's legs, while Danny grabbed her arms. They hoisted her up slowly, as to not jostle her around too much, and gently - that means, as gently as two teenaged boys can make it - set her down on the bed. Danny felt his hands begin to gravitate towards each other, feeling the need to wring them together out of habit, but quickly squashed the involuntary reflex and moved one hand up to run through his hair. It was honestly, in his opinion, pretty awkward. He really wasn't used to it, along with some of the other things he had begun forcing himself to do.

"Okay, what now?" Sam asked, noticing that the task had been completed.

Danny was really beginning to hate that question. What, was he the leader of the pack of misfits now? After every single thing they did over the course of the time he had spent with them, that was all they asked. Between Sam and Tucker, one of them always had to ask, whether it was asked in its usual 'what now?' form, or in some variant of that. It was really starting to get on Danny's nerves. At least his leech-like classmates back home were more subtle and dignified with how they asked him for orders. They were way less blunt with it.

Danny really didn't want to answer this time, but both Sam and Tucker were staring at him expectantly. He decided to drop the question off on Tucker though. In Danny's defense, he was beginning to have a headache. Yeah, that was it.

Danny merely shrugged, and then looked to Tucker. It had appeared that they had switched expressions, Danny's look of slight annoyance and indecision having moved onto Tucker's face, while Danny had taken up the look of expectancy that had once adorned Tucker's features with an added smirk of victory. He blamed that on his father.

"We could play video-games until Jazz wakes up!" Tucker stated after taking a minute to himself to think. Then, both Tucker and Sam looked back to Danny, the smirk having slid clean off his face, the expectancy sitting proudly back on their faces, eyes glittering with pure reliance on their friend. Danny was beginning to feel the ache from his head move down to his stomach...

"Don't look at me! You guys know where they are." At least, that's what Danny hoped. In truth, he hadn't had time to look around in his room much. He had spent the majority of his time scoping out the new house he lived in, and learning the map of the city. Heck with his new bedroom! Sam and Tucker seemed satisfied with that, before they made their way to the door and left the room. Danny couldn't help but feel a certain mixture of relief and worry wash over him like a huge tidal wave. He was happy that they knew where they were going, because he had no clue whatsoever. But, on the other hand, he felt he might have given a bit too much away with just how he phrased his statement. He hadn't been really paying attention, and he wished he had been.

Although, he supposed, Tucker wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, except when it came to technology. People skills were definitely not his forte. And Sam, while she may have been more abled to read the atmosphere and the mood around her, Danny felt her sheer trust in him would drag her down and away from any rising suspicions she may have.

Feeling reassured about his current situation, he made his way out the door to follow them. He was fine. He knew it. Clockwork wouldn't let things spiral out of control so quickly. Danny trusted Clockwork.

* * *

Deep in the Ghost Zone, there was a ticking. It was a constant, but erratic ticking. It was random, but you could have faith that it would never stop. It would last as long as there was someone to watch over it, keep it under control.

But, currently, this someone was out running errands, having full trust in the boy he had left behind. Surely the boy could do no harm.

Although, Clockwork knew of the many paths time could go down at the moment. There were more than several bad, and only a few good. But either way, he had faith that everything would work out. He had faith in his own actions and schemes, he just had to make sure no one found out about his little test run. Although, with the Observants out of commission, there was no one to stop him. Even though the whole plan of his was taking quite a bit of power, he knew all of the paths time could take, would lead back to a specific point. So, he had faith. And trust. Let's not forget about trust. Or power. That was what all of his faith and trust really came back to. As long as he had the overall power, everything would go smoothly.

So, when the boy found out he would be left by himself once again, and to "kindly watch over the time stream" while Clockwork was away on business, he was secretly ecstatic, ready to work more on his plan to ruin the life that once was his.

He sat before the time viewers, watching and scheming, ready to twist things around to his own advantage.

When he saw the right moment, he would tweak things enough to leave the Masters kid a - false - sense of security, but still enough to help him cause enough damage to help him throughout his plan.

He couldn't help but enjoy it. It was almost like a movie, with Masters as the hero, and him as the villain. Obviously, if things played out as he wanted them to, the movie would end just like a horror movie. The villain would win, and the hero would fall.

That was all he wanted.

If he couldn't have his life, then nobody could have it. And, especially not a rich spoiled brat. Hell no. Never. If he thought he could take what was rightfully his, he would suffer.

He would suffer until he couldn't take it anymore and begged for mercy and forgiveness. Mercy and forgiveness that he would never get.

It would just take patience.

"I will make sure, you regret everything you have done, Masters. You, your father, and Clockwork. I will destroy everything. I will not be so easily replaced."

The first person he needed to tear apart, was the Masters boy. If he could successfully tear him down, that would in turn rip the little miscreant's father to bits. After all that was accomplished, things around Clockwork would slowly all crash and burn.

Yes, it would definitely end in the outcome that he favored. There was no other way. If things didn't, he'd find a way to demolish the time stream itself.

He also found it slightly strange that all of the vocabulary words that he had been force-fed, never came in handy until now.

He really would have preferred a beating heart over knowledge. He'd give all of the knowledge he had back to the textbooks to get his life back. But, because of the stupid Masters kid, he could never have any of what _was_ his.

But, with the knowledge from when he had human blood flowing through his veins resurfacing, he was able to piece together a more successful plan for revenge. And, with that same knowledge, he would make sure things ended in his favor.

He wanted, no, _needed_ revenge. Maybe, if he could convince everyone that actually cared about him (and not the little stand-in), they would accept him in his new form. They could still love him. They could! He knew it!

If only they could see that they've all been fooled, then they would know.

He would make sure that the fraud was discovered through the small things he did. Little tiny mistakes that only certain people would notice. He would make sure they noticed. He _did_ have the power to force them to, after all.

_End Chapter 10!_


	11. Chapter 11: A Horrible Day

**_Hello! Here is my lovely Easter update! It's the eleventh chapter too! My lucky number! (One of them anyways...) I got a review saying that you liked the cuteness between Skulker and Danny, so there's a bit more of that in this chapter! And don't worry! Vlad and Danny will have lots of interaction eventually, we just have to get to that point! I hope you like that! And there's a slight cliffhanger in this chapter hehe, so sorry about that! (I was wondering what all of you think about Danny being claustrophobic or something? He needs some kind of flaw, and I figured this could be it. And don't say anything about how he can phase through solid objects, I know that. This would be more like a fear of tight spaces that he can't escape from. This would come in later, but I'd like to know your opinions!) Oh and I'd like to thank pearl84 for her review (I will eventually get around to adding the titles on the other chapters, I haven't had time yet... Oh! You got the magical 50th review, too!) and I'd like to thank Kimiko1234 for her continued support! She's helped me out a lot with this story!_**

**_I'd also like to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed! _**

**_And this may or may not be the longest chapter yet, I'm not entirely sure... I hope you enjoy it though! Please enjoy and R&R! Oh, and Happy Easter!_**

**_Sorry for such a long A/N... _**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom._**

* * *

_Chapter 11 Start!_

_A Horrible Day…_

It had been a few days since the whole incident with Jazz discovering the one secret that Danny was most likely allowed to disclose, and Danny couldn't help but find it slightly amusing. When she had first woken up she had blubbered on and on, unable to get a single coherent thought out of her mouth, before she stood with a heavy sigh and a furious shake of the head and exited the room. Of course by that time, Sam and Tucker had departed, leaving Danny to witness the whole thing by himself. Frankly, he found it kind of funny.

Okay, maybe he found it hilarious, but that was beside the point.

The rest of the day had continued on with Jazz - almost successfully - avoiding Danny for the entirety of what was left of the waking hours. Almost, seeing that Maddie had asked Jazz to retrieve Danny from his room for dinner and then having to sit next to him throughout the meal. She made sure to keep clear of Danny's bemused gaze during that span of time.

By the next day, her state of swivet and avoidance had subsided, only to be replaced by interrogations and severe questioning. Danny could remember the string of questions she would ask - most were extremely complex and scientific - were coupled with a stern glare that seemed to keep him trapped in the chair that he had been sitting in. He couldn't help the answers that flew from his lips. He knew it had to be some kind of strange psychological hypnosis. She had probably read several books on hypnosis, knowing her and her fascination with the mind.

Either that, or she was just exceptionally well practiced in the art of scaring answers out of people.

Danny found it strange that she went from a blubbering mess to a stern inquisitor and then finally to an overprotective sister over the course of two and a half days (more or less). At the time, he had been sitting at the kitchen table, ready to dig into his bowl of cereal with a spoon at the ready, when Jack fumbled in with a look of accomplishment and pride adorning his features. Jazz, who had been sitting at the head of the table double checking her homework (more like triple checking, really), knew exactly what this expression entailed, considering how many times she had seen it upon both her mother's and father's faces.

"Danny boy!" Jack boomed, "I have just perfected the newest addition to the Fenton arsenal: the Fenton Thermos!"

Maddie chose that moment to make an appearance, squeezing past her boasting husband to the kitchen. "Jack, honey, it isn't a weapon." she sang. Even though there were reprimanding undertones, she couldn't help but be happy about her husband's exuberance.

"I know, but this will catch the ghost scum and make it easier for us to use our weapons!" Jack countered, even more proud.

Danny didn't really pay any mind to Jack's boasting, too concentrated on his breakfast to really care, but Jazz listened to her parents' conversation with rapt attention.

Somehow, she had come to the conclusion that anything they made could hurt her baby brother. They were _ghost hunters _with weapons that could _hurt _ghosts, and her baby brother was a _ghost_. That ultimately lead to Danny's apparent incapability to protect himself from miniscule threats to his existence and health.

And so, Jazz appointed herself as the personal body guard that he apparently so desperately needed.

Danny _knew _that that wouldn't go over very well. Not by a long shot. But, even so, he wasn't focused on that at the moment. He was focused on the fact that Skulker hadn't yet made his return appearance to make good on his promise of a fight.

Why?

He figured it was because he had a notion that whenever that battle happened, it would cause him problems somehow. He could feel it.

So, he had been trying to prepare himself for that upcoming mess when it came flying at him. Literally.

"This will be able to trap and hold any number of ghosts, no matter the size, shape, or power!" Maddie explained happily. "Although, we are still trying to work out a few kinks. Right now, we can't get it to work, so that's the first thing we need to work on." She threw a quizzical glance over to the device being held uncharacteristically gentle in Jack's hands.

Danny looked up and moved his gaze slowly across the thin, sleek cylinder. He had seen many things similar to it in his father's lab, and just by looking at it he could tell what the main problem was right away. So, naturally, he couldn't help but say something about it. It wasn't as if it could hurt him in the future.

"You could always try charging it. Sometimes I hear people at school complain about having to charge their new phone or whatever before they use it the first time. I don't believe it, but that could be the problem." Danny said. He made sure to add something that seemed semi normal so there could be an explanation for his knowledge. It wasn't like he could say, 'My father, Vlad Masters, teaches me about everything ghostly. It is a huge part of me, after all!' That wouldn't fly.

Jack beamed wildly before making his way over to stand next to Danny's chair, ruffling his hair fondly. "Wow, Danny-boy! That's a great idea! Maybe you could follow in my footsteps and take over the family business! You could even be my sidekick and help –" His happy babble was cut off when Maddie jumped between him and Danny and ushered him out of the kitchen.

"Okay kids, have a good day at school!" she chirped, before she and Jack disappeared into the basement once again.

Danny was about to return to his bowl of – now soggy – cereal, when he caught a heated glare from Jazz. He looked up at her in confusion, wondering what the problem with him was now. He wondered vaguely if this was the next stage in her strange cycle of emotions.

"Danny!" She hissed, "Why would you do that?!"

"Do what?" Danny felt his head tip to one side as he tried to sift through recent memories in the quest to figure out what he had done to offend her.

"You may have just helped them fix that thing!" she spit out angrily.

Danny honestly didn't see how that was so horrible. Was it a crime in Amity Park to try to help his parents (despite the fact that they weren't even his?) He felt it was just the nice thing to do…

"And what's wrong with that?"

"With how you are now, that thing could be a potential threat! What is wrong with you?!" Jazz had been quiet with her anger, as to not alert her parents, but the effort to keep her harsh words to a whisper left her red in the face.

"They said it was only meant to capture ghosts, not hurt them." Danny said, realization dawning on him. So she was still in her overprotective mode. This phase just had more aspects to it than the last ones did.

"Yes, but then they could tote you to some research facility where they cut you open and poke and prod and slice and dice and…" she trailed off, leaving the rest of her flustered ranting to the throes of her mind. "Ugh! Gosh, this is horrible!"

"Jazz, I really don't see how this is such a big deal." Danny stated, uncertain. He wasn't sure what could set Jazz off next, and he really hoped that he was on stable ground.

His hopes were crushed.

"That's exactly it! You don't see it, because you aren't _used _to seeing it! In your current state, you have to be more careful with what you say and do! And until you figure out how to do that, I'm going to have to do it for you!"

Danny thought that being half ghost made him more powerful than the average human. Apparently, it just made him stupid. Go figure.

He didn't really have much to say to Jazz's words though, so he stayed silent. He figured it best to leave her be for the moment. It would give her time to calm down. So, he turned back to his cereal, a bit saddened that there wouldn't be the satisfying crunch that he would have preferred to hear, and sank his spoon into the cold milk. His stomach had been very vocal with its complaints about hunger, and Danny needed to satiate it.

He had the spoon almost to his mouth, before he felt a hard yank on his arm, pulling him violently to his feet. He dropped his spoon back into the bowl with a _splash_ and a muffled clattering and felt himself being dragged towards the front door. He heard a low "_Crap!"_ that he figured had come from Jazz and he looked up to her in bewilderment.

"We have to go! We're going to be late!" she stated, grabbing her backpack from the floor by the front door. Danny barely had enough time to grab his own before the front door was thrust open, morning light flooding into the living room (the curtains had yet to be opened). He looked back longingly at his breakfast. Oh, how his stomach protested against leaving it!

He followed Jazz down the front steps and over to Jazz's car. Before he knew it, they were speeding off towards Casper High.

Danny couldn't help but sigh. He wasn't looking forward to going to school. He would have preferred to stay and finish his cereal. And of course, he was most likely going to get in trouble for not cleaning it up once he got back home. It was just _not _a good day for him.

* * *

Danny trudged out the doors of Casper High, feeling exhausted. He had been hounded by Jazz throughout the entire day, had been completely embarrassed by his stomach's loud growling all the way up until lunch, had been given detention for no reason apparent to him, and had finally had his first encounter with Dash Baxter – not that he wanted it, of course. And with that whole episode, he couldn't fight back even in the slightest, knowing that that wasn't something Fenton would do. So, he had walked out of it with a bruised lip and black eye. These injuries were already trying to heal themselves, but the evidence of their existence had not quite disappeared.

Since he had had detention, he had left later than everyone else. He was slightly annoyed with the fact that detention had run a little late. His teacher had refused to start the time before everyone arrived, and some students had to be almost literally dragged there. After wasting nearly two hours worth of time, he figured he could take a leisurely pace home, despite the low position of the sun in the sky. It would be relaxing at least.

He began his lonely trek, not really noticing that he had neither Sam nor Tucker there with him. Jazz had long since left, briefly forgetting about the protection that her baby brother needed, in order to do her homework, study, and whatever else she may do in the evenings.

He had neared his street, before he felt a familiar icy sensation spread throughout him. He refused to let the breath of icy air out subconsciously, having been taught by Vlad how to control it, but he still took notice of it. He stopped walking, ready for the battle that he knew he would be thrust into. He took a quick look around before transforming into his ghostly persona. He figured it was best to change now than right when the battle started.

"Whelp!" he heard his surrogate uncle call. Danny looked up, finding Skulker floating with his arms crossed smugly. He lowered himself to the ground, almost enough to be standing in front of Danny. He looked down with a smile and ruffled Danny's hair. "Well, Vlad wanted me to fight you so he could see where you could improve. Are you…"

Danny looked at him, wondering why Skulker had stopped in the middle of a sentence. "What?"

"What happened to your face, kid?"

"Oh, well some guy beat me up." Danny put simply.

"Who was it? Was it that Johnny 13 guy, or—"

"No, it was a guy at school. And besides, Johnny wouldn't try to hurt me. We've been friends for quite a while, you know that." Danny said.

"If it was a human, why didn't you fight back?" Skulker's voice sounded harsh, but Danny knew it was really just his way of masking his worry.

"Well, right now, I'm posing as the kid that this guy bullies. Fenton never fought back, so it would be strange if I started doing it out of the blue." Danny explained.

"I don't like that, and neither will Vlad."

"I know, but I don't really have a choice." Danny said glumly.

"Well, I may not get the raise I wanted, but I'm gonna let you off the hook for now. You look like you feel like crap, whelp." Skulker stated gruffly. Danny looked up at him in surprise, and felt the urge to hug the ghost, but then thought twice. He knew Skulker wasn't extremely fond of affection, and as such, Skulker wouldn't enjoy a hug.

"Thank you, Skulker!" he said happily.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, kid." Skulker said dismissively, suddenly finding the row of houses on the opposite side of the street very interesting. He made to leave, but was stopped when a voice sounded off from behind them.

"Stop, ghost scum!" Jack yelled in an attempt to sound threatening, pointing a now fully charged Fenton Thermos at the two of them.

Maddie stood behind Jack with a cheerful smile drawn on her face. "Now, maybe we can catch a ghost and the thermos won't break and release them!"

Danny then thought sadly, still frozen in place, "_Today sucks…"_

_End Chapter 11!_


	12. Chapter 12: Capture

**_Hello. Apparently no one liked the last chapter. Whatever. Haha! So, I have brought you the shortest chapter! This is punishment for not reviewing. And plus, I have homework and it's just a really busy part of the year for me right now. So, there will probably be shorter chapters for a while. When I get the time, I'll try to do longer ones for you (if you review, of course!). So, if you think this one is short and crappy, I know. You don't need to tell me. But, on a lighter note, Vlad and Danny will have interaction sometime within the next two chapters! And, I did a new point of view. It was strange and interesting at the same time. And thank you to Kimiko1234 and Jeanette9a for reviewing and continuing to support this story!_**

**_And by the way, it's been such a long time since I've actually watched this show, so let me know if I am ever remembering things wrong. And, if any of you have been reading Kimiko1234's story for GetBackers, she is going to start mirroring my updates. It's a very good story so check it out!_**

**_Okay, please enjoy and review!_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom._**

* * *

_Chapter 12 Start!_

_Capture _

Jack Fenton couldn't believe how lucky he was at the moment! He was having such a great day! He had finally managed to perfect the Fenton Thermos, and his son – his pride and joy (Jack's mind was too clouded with happiness to remember that he had an overachieving daughter at the moment) – had helped him reach that goal. There was still hope for Danny as a ghost hunter! And now, he had two ghosts ready and (not so) willing to help him test out the Fenton Thermos now that it was in working condition!

He didn't really notice the waves of confusion and uneasiness spewing ruthlessly from the ghosts before him, he only knew his own giddiness and excitement and his wife's encouraging happiness radiating from behind him. Now all he had to do was push the button. One simple button. And, he had already practiced several times with the sluggish ecto-based creatures that they kept in their lab. Surely he could catch himself two average ghosts!

Right?

He felt his thumb twitch a bit in anticipation. He had to wait. Just a little longer! He had to be sure he was ready.

Or it could all go wrong.

And if that happened, he would feel like a complete and utter failure. Again. He hated that feeling…

Once he was sure that he was ready, absolutely positive, he felt his thumb push the button down with ease. The pale blue light that shot out could be surprising, but by now he was used to it. He watched as it flew towards the two specters, frozen in shock. Jack preferred to say they were frozen in fear. That made his story better for when he told his children.

He wasn't quite sure what happened within the next few seconds, but he did know that he only saw one of the two ghosts flying away. So, that must mean he had caught one!

Sure, it was the smaller one, but he still caught it! That was good for a first try with real and malevolent ghosts.

Every single one of those things are malevolent. Jack knew that well and good.

"That was good, honey!" he heard his wife chirp happily from behind him. He turned to her with a huge smile on his face.

"Did you see that, Mads? I caught one of 'em and scared the other off!"

"You did! You did wonderfully!"

And then, Jack could return home with his wife, feeling quite a large confidence boost.

* * *

"What do you mean, Skulker? What are you talking about?" Vlad hissed dangerously. All he knew was that Skulker had failed at his job, and had flown to him in an 'almost panic'. Skulker refused to say it was panic.

"The Fentons sucked him up!"

"I'm afraid you are going to have to be a bit more clear, Skulker." Vlad said slowly. Honestly! Why couldn't he just take a breath and explain things slowly?

"They have some kind of contraption. It is much like some of your creations. I'm not quite sure what it was, but they used it to capture your son." Skulker said, having taken a breath to steady himself. He really had no clue why he was so flustered. Danny was half-ghost! He knew how well Danny could get himself out of a lot of tight spots.

Although, these _were _ghost hunters that they were dealing with.

"Skulker, if he was captured, why would you come to me rather than helping him?" Vlad seethed. What was wrong with Skulker today? Could his small brain not handle all of the information he had to process? It really wasn't all that much.

"I-I don't know…" Skulker stammered, bowing his head. He didn't know, really. And now his boss was mad at him. That was just _great._

"Now I'll have to go check on him. In a way, I suppose I could thank you. I haven't seen my son face-to-face for a while now. But, you were being exceedingly stupid, so no. I'll be back." Vlad said, swooping his cape over his head and disappearing with teleportation.

Skulker let out the breath he had been holding. Maybe things would still turn out okay.

Although, he hadn't mentioned Danny's having been bullied and bruised during the day. He wasn't sure whether that would have made Vlad less angry or just made the whole situation worse. Now it would only make Vlad angrier, considering the fact that Skulker hadn't mentioned it.

He wasn't looking forward to that…

_End Chapter 12!_


	13. Chapter 13: Panic

**_Hello! This is just a quick update, because (1) you made me feel bad, (2) because this week is crazy hectic with my music and stuff, and (3) because I'm participating in SpringNoWriMo. I'll be spending quite some time on that._**

**_So, wish me luck in that, and my competitions this week too! Okay, please enjoy!_**

**_I would also like to thank Kimiko1234, pearl84, jeanette9a, maltese, Phantom Ice, and Azawrath and Dusk for reviewing last chapter!_**

**_Let me know what you think about this super short chapter!_**

**_Disclaimer:- I do not own Danny Phantom._**

* * *

_Chapter 13 Start!_

_Panic_

Danny wasn't quite sure what all had just happened, he wasn't sure he wanted to know either. All he knew was that he was surrounded by darkness. It was crushing him.

Or maybe that would be the walls surrounding him on all sides. They gave him barely enough room to move. It was so tight. There was no room.

How much longer would he be able to breathe?

He completely disregarded the fact that while in ghost form he didn't necessarily need the oxygen - that didn't mean he didn't prefer having the feeling of breathing instead of nothing at all, not by a long shot. But, in his panicked mind, he wasn't quite sure of a lot of the things that he would normally be able to explain from the top of head with more description than someone would ever ask for, and the words he would use would be so long and educated that many people would get dizzy from.

But, all of that poise, accuracy, and pride had disappeared. He knew when it had begun to slip, but he didn't have the effort to even hold onto a sliver of it when he felt his composure leave him.

Truthfully, he knew he shouldn't have such a severe claustrophobia. He was a ghost, he could just phase through solid objects. But, when it came to objects that negated his powers and left him completely vulnerable and weak with no means of escape, he broke down. He would try oh so hard to hold it in, face his fear, but that somehow made it all worse.

He remembered when he was younger, he had gotten himself trapped inside one of his father's prototypes. It had been extremely similar to the Fenton Thermos. And at the time, getting sucked into the device was not exactly painless or comfortable.

Danny remembered that it had hurt quite a bit being shrunk down to a size that could fit inside the infernal contraption. He figured that that was where his fear stemmed from. Vlad had eventually found him (to Danny it had felt like eternity before his savior had arrived, but Vlad had always claimed that it couldn't have been more than ten minutes. Vlad found it slightly entertaining - not the fact that his son was in tears from such a strong terror, he could never find that funny - that instead of crying over a scraped knee, his son cried over getting sucked into a sort of ghost trap.), having been entering his lab with the goal of retrieving an item he couldn't remember when he tried, and came across the prototype on he floor. A blinking light had alerted him to the fact that it had captured something, or in that specific case, someone.

Danny, at this point, had slowly begun to feel himself slip into a wild panic. He couldn't help but push and kick at the walls that confined him. He wasn't sure, but he might have been yelling as well. He didn't really know what all he was doing.

He didn't want to face the fact that he might be stuck inside the hellacious hunk of steel and wires with no one to release him. Surely the Fenton adults would prefer to keep him as a trophy - as Skulker so often teased about doing himself, but that was in more of an affectionate context - or dissect him, or conduct experiments on him. There were so many horrid possibilities, and just thinking about it made the panic levels rise.

He knew he had his cell phone, but would it work inside the Fenton Thermos? If it did, he could easily call his father and ask for help and comfort. If it didn't, he would then really have to face the music and come to terms with the fact that there was no one around to help him.

It was always worth a try, right?

He fumbled around a bit in the dark until he was able to unhook the phone from his belt. He brought it up to his face, but hesitated. What if it didn't work? What if his one chance, his one single hope, crashed and burned? Then, there would be nothing he could do.

He really didn't want to flip the phone open. That would take him either a huge step forward towards freedom and the comfort of his father, or it would resign him to a horrible fate of dread and more likely than not, pain. He really hated being so dreadfully weak…

He finally worked up enough courage to flip it open. The light from the cell phone's screen washed out over his face, and pushed the darkness out an inch or two.

Oddly enough, it seemed to make the space he was in more cramped. At that point, he felt tears bubble over and stream down his face, leaving salty tracks behind. He fumbled with the keys, trying to find the speed dial for his father (Vlad had set that for him, but he didn't really complain. Unlike many of the other students at both Casper High and his old private school, he liked his father's company.), and once he had found it, he pressed the green button with a little more force than was really needed.

He waited through several rings before he finally heard the voice of his father come through the receiver. He didn't wait for a greeting though. He instantly spoke with a wavering and pleading voice.

"Dad, please come get me."

_End Chapter 13!_


	14. Chapter 14: Savior

**_Hi! I am really sorry! Things should start calming down a bit now, so I will be able to update a bit more. Things were just really crazy. So, I wrote a new chapter to make up for the wait. And just so you know, I don't claim to be good at writing cute comfort moments, so yeah. That's in this chapter, so let me know how I did with that! _**

**_I would like to thank Phantom Ice, Kimiko1234, jeanette9a, and pearl84 for reviewing last chapter! _**

**_I hope you all like this chapter, I tried to make it nice! So R&R! Enjoy!_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom._**

* * *

_Chapter 14 Start!_

_Savior_

Vlad hadn't been sure how fast he had been flying; all he knew was that he left in 'overprotective father' mode. That featured rage (towards the Fentons and whatever else may be distressing his son), annoyance (with Skulker), and worry (for his son and his safety). All of that was rolled up into a nice little package, bundled nicely with panic. It was really quite wonderful how it all came together so nicely. The end product though, was not as marvelous. The end product was a frazzled Vlad, and nobody wanted Vlad to be frazzled. That just caused problems.

When Vlad had received a phone call, from his son to be exact, he half expected – and admittedly actually wished – it to be an elaborate joke that Danny had set up with Skulker. If that were the case, he knew he would be angry, but only because of the fact that his son had worried him so badly. Then he could lecture Danny on trust and telling the truth, and he could lecture Skulker on responsibility and maturity. Skulker _was _an adult, after all.

He was let down, unfortunately. When he had heard his son's voice come through from the other end, weighed down with fear and panic, he knew his hopes had been thrashed violently. Danny had sounded so pitiful! Vlad hated hearing his son that way, it made his gut wrench violently and twist into knots.

So, he replied with a quick "I'm on my way, Daniel. I'll be there soon." Then, he felt that he had probably picked up his pace subconsciously, feeling a strong need to go to his son's aid.

Truthfully, and he hated to admit it, but sometimes he liked it when Danny needed him. He hated seeing him hurt or ill or scared or any of the other possibilities that would leave his son upset, but it gave Vlad the feeling that he was still able to help his son, even though Danny was growing up. Vlad sometimes missed the days when Danny was younger.

Vlad felt he was growing nostalgic as time went on, but he never really cared. He already had the gray hair (although he liked to say it was a healthy silver) to show his increasing age, he was allowed to be sentimental!

It hadn't taken him too long to reach Amity Park. He knew he could be fast as a ghost, but considering that he was filled with worry and more than likely, some adrenalin, he figured his speed had increased quite drastically. He knew exactly where he needed to go, considering that he had been to the town and house quite frequently when he had still tried to remain on good terms with the Fentons. The friendship boat had left him behind rather quickly, but he thought it sounded like an overrated pop song sung by the latest boy band. Vlad wished all of that could burn. He was so thankful that he had a son rather than a daughter. Vlad found that he wasn't into dolls, makeup, and pop music.

He figured that once the rumors of him, Vlad Plasmius, playing with dolls because of a daughter spread all throughout the Ghost Zone, his reputation would be crushed. Of course, if he had a daughter, he knew he would love her just as much as he loved his beloved son, but he had trouble picturing it. He was happy with his little boy.

Vlad landed outside the red brick building, neon sign flashing obnoxiously above him. He couldn't help but scoff. The Fentons really were stupid at times. _Most times _actually. The house seemed empty. The lights were off and it just seemed _way _too quiet. It was the Fenton home after all.

Vlad didn't hesitate to go straight through the door. He knew the house fairly well – not that he really ever wanted to – from his many past visits and the spy cameras he had positioned throughout most of the house's interior. And no, it was not going overboard. Definitely not. Vlad would know if it was too much when Danny decided to say something. Vlad had never had that problem before though, so he figured he was just good at being a father. (Skulker had always replied to that with, "Great excuse, really. I'm sure it's _not _your son just worrying about hurting your feelings." Don't forget the sarcasm.)

So, he navigated himself towards the basement, it was obvious that Daniel would be there. The Fentons didn't think to protect their equipment (or captured ghosts) in a different part of the house. No, they thought it was best to keep things right by their ghost portal where any mischievous ghost could take them. That was another piece of evidence that supported the theory of their ignorance and stupidity. It wasn't a theory actually. It was pretty well-known.

He hadn't quite been expecting their lab to be so cluttered. That had shocked him a bit. They had children (one child really, considering the other was his) and the clutter could pose several safety risks. Vlad made sure to take extra precautions in his own lab, knowing that Danny could wander in there. He didn't think his son was stupid or dangerous, but in a lab, any number of things could go wrong at any time. He didn't want his son to get hurt, that was all. But, now that Danny was older, it was easier to keep him safe. Danny was able to take care of himself for the most part and he was smart enough to know what could and couldn't hurt him. And as an added bonus, Danny knew quite a bit about ghostly energy. That made things all the more easier.

But, the Fenton children had no clue about anything ghostly, let alone the dangerous weapons that their parents created to hunt ghosts. With their parents' stupidity thrown into that mix, that made for malfunctioning and potentially harmful weapons and ignorant children who had no clue what it all was. From what he knew, Maddie and Jack had made cleaning the lab one of the household chores for their children to complete. In Vlad's opinion, that was poor parenting. And stupid.

He spotted the thermos lying on its side on the floor under a table (he figured they had thrown it carelessly onto a random surface and let it roll onto the hard floor. They had probably left to go celebrate the capture of a ghost.) and had immediately made for it. Danny was probably still inside, most likely sobbing.

He pressed the release button rather quickly, still in a panic, and watched as his son was shot out of the contraption. Danny sat up shakily. He was finally free of that wretched device! He let out a sob of relief before tears spilled over again.

Vlad had quickly moved to comfort the boy, and wrapped his arms around his son's shaking shoulders, pulling him towards his chest. Danny fisted his father's shirt tightly in his hands, needing some kind of anchor, and burrowed as deep as he could into his father's comforting embrace.

"I'm so stupid…" he mumbled miserably.

"No Daniel, you are not stupid. Everyone has fears, it is a completely normal thing. Even I have fears, my boy." Vlad replied softly. Sometimes he felt that he had instilled too much pride in his son, but that was okay. It didn't matter.

"What are you afraid of, dad?" Danny looked up from Vlad's chest to look his father in the face.

_I'm afraid of losing my precious son… _"I'm afraid of the romance novels that Ghost Writer keeps suggesting to me." It was true, those books did frighten Vlad, but not as much as the unspoken truth. That was his true fear, but his son didn't need to know that.

Danny chuckled. "Yeah, those seem pretty strange."

After that, Vlad had decided that a day back home wouldn't threaten his son's mission, and he vowed to have a talk with Clockwork over the whole situation. He really was _not _happy. Not at all.

_End Chapter 14!_


	15. Chapter 15: Lies and Relief

**_Hello! I know, I'm horrible. I feel like a cruel, cruel person, so I'm sorry! I don't post for a while and then I post a rushed chapter, and then I wait another long while. Trust me, it was not intended! I just felt bad because I didn't post in such a while. I'm very sorry about not posting and then posting a rushed chapter, I know it was a let-down (at least I think it was…). And then I wait another long while… Now that things are calming down, I'll try to do longer chapters to make it up to you! After Wednesday the 8_****_th_****_, I will try to get back into regular updates, I swear it! If I can't do it Wednesday, I will definitely work hard to post a chapter on that Friday!_**

**_Thank you Phantom Ice, pearl84 (thank you for the advice! Don't worry, I don't take it negatively unless it's written to be negative), maltese, and Shadownip for reviewing!_**

**_I'm glad you all are enjoying my story, and I hope you continue to enjoy it! It makes me happy to know that people are enjoying my writing, so thank you all very much! _**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom._**

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_Chapter 15 Start!_

_Lies and Relief_

Danny was pleased, to say the least. He finally felt the freedom that he had sought after while he was confined in the Fenton Thermos, and he was in the company of his father once again. He hadn't realized how stressed he was coming to be during his stay with the Fentons, surrounded by weapons that could bring him a considerable amount of pain, and a sister who read into a situation _way _too much. If anyone were going to discover him, it would most likely be her. Hopefully she was trustworthy enough not to broadcast the news to the world, although she may have a panic attack in wondering where her real brother was. That would eventually lead to Danny revealing the fact that her brother, the _real _Danny Fenton, was dead, and had been for a while now. He had a vague feeling that Jazz may attempt to call the police…

He pushed those thoughts away quickly. Danny didn't need to worry about the outcome of things that hadn't happened. If things did turn out that way, Danny would deal with it then. He shouldn't have to worry about those things while he is on a break, as short as it may be. It was almost like a visit home from a boarding school, just not quite. He spends the majority of the time away from home and then visits on holidays and breaks.

Danny felt it could be kind of like that, but he didn't go to a boarding school, so he would never really know for sure if the comparison was reasonable. He didn't know how else to describe it. The situation was strange, and far from anything remotely normal, but then again, he wasn't normal either. But that was okay. He was proud of who and what he is, he's _unique._

He had admittedly wanted something like this for a while. He just wanted a little breather, a little break from his mission for Clockwork and some time back in his _own_ home with his _own_ family. He did not enjoy the time he had been spending in the Fenton home, not even close. It was all so strange and different, not to mention _dangerous. _

Danny did not like to lie. His father had taught him well that lying was wrong, except in some particular cases. A white lie was to protect someone's feelings. What he was doing to the Fenton family was not a mere white lie. It was a full blown, well thought out lie that was seemingly getting bigger and bigger. This made him uncomfortable. He didn't want to lie to this family. They looked at him and saw the youngest Fenton, a part of their family and a part of their lives. When Danny saw the fond looks that they gave him, or heard them speak to him with caring voices, all he saw were lies.

He was lying to them, and he did not like it. Clockwork knew these things, so why did he assign Danny the job anyways? _Because the time stream is more important, of course. _

A lot of times, Danny felt as if Clockwork was just exploiting his abilities for the sake of time. Danny couldn't help but feel as if he was only around for Clockwork's own needs, not as an apprentice, or even a friend. But, when he was with his father, he knew he was cared for, he mattered to someone. He was not usually so filled with angst, but he was a teenager. Things caught up with him time to time.

So, in conclusion, he was just happy to be spending some time with his father. After he had been released from the Fenton Thermos, he had left through the Fenton Portal with his father. He remembered that he had been intent on following behind his father – rather like a duckling following its mother – after having his emotional breakdown (he still had his pride to think about! If he stayed back a bit, he could try to regain some of his lost composure.). But, Vlad had been exceptionally stubborn, and had even slowed his pace enough to travel at Danny's side. Danny found this slightly humorous despite the fact that Vlad had thwarted his plans.

They had made their way through the swirling green abyss in a comfortable silence, neither really finding any need to speak. Danny was being comforted just by being in his father's presence, and Vlad had been relieved to just have his son back in his protection.

Danny had made it a personal goal to take a nice long nap right when they had returned home, intent on getting in a couple hours of sleep in his own bed, in his own home. He had been having a bit of trouble sleeping at the Fentons'… Whether that was from the notion that ghost hunters with potentially harmful weapons slept in a room just down the hall, or just the new and strange atmosphere that he had found himself submerged in, he had no clue. But, he knew he would be able to get a very good night's sleep back home (plus an extra hour or two from his much needed nap).

After passing multiple floating doors, including several that Danny visited quite frequently, they had arrived at a large boulder. It was convenient how their portal had access to a part of the Ghost Zone with lots of rocks. It made it easier to hide it. Danny remembered fondly about how his father claimed he would replace the rock with a gigantic purple football many of the times they had passed through the portal. Danny had the vague feeling that Vlad would have done it, had it not been for Danny's being his son. Vlad was such a fanatic, it wasn't all that hard to believe. But, there were ghosts out there who held grudges against his father, and Danny knew they would attempt anything at all to seek their vengeance (no matter how trivial the matter that started the whole thing was). He felt it was some kind of extra precaution, just for him.

Danny knew that his father was aware of the fact that Danny was capable of protecting himself, but a little extra protection never hurt. Danny didn't care, as long as it kept his father happy and at ease. Vlad moved the hulking boulder with minimal effort, the lack of gravity and his superhuman capabilities assisting with the task. Danny then took the initiative and floated through the portal, eager to return to a sense of normality, as short lived as he knew it would be. Vlad had followed in soon after, having moved the boulder back to its original spot.

Danny released a sigh of relief and transformed back to his human counterpart, allowing himself to be dropped gently back into gravity's clutches. He stretched a bit and yawned, before looking up at Vlad.

"Hey, could you wake me up in an hour or so? I'd like to get a little bit of sleep." He put simply. He knew his father would understand. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend time with Vlad, he was just seeking some much needed sleep. He was overwhelmed and needed a break, that was all.

Vlad smiled fondly down at Danny and nodded, "Of course, Daniel. I'll wake you up in around an hour and then we can have some dinner."

Danny flashed his father a smile and dove in for a quick hug, before running off towards the bedroom he had missed dearly. Yes, a nap sounded very nice.

_End Chapter 15!_

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**_Okay, I know I usually don't do any more speaking after a chapter, but there's a first for everything, right? So, I know this was only a filler chapter… I'm sorry. But hey, at least I gave it a decent amount of effort and thought! I didn't think I would end up getting so busy, but I guess it'll only get worse up until finals week. After that though, I'm free and I can write as much as I want! _**

**_Anyways, there is a point to this message! I entered an art contest (Kimiko1234 knows all of this already) and on May 8_****_th_****_, they will start a rating period where people can go and rate different pieces. If any of you are interested, lemme know and I'll put the link up in my profile! That's not saying you have to rate mine or anything, but if you just want to check out my submission, that's fine too! It's for Naruto Shippuden haha, so yeah. It would make me extremely happy if you are interested in checking it out, but that does not mean you have to. (In truth, my mom suggested I say something about it on here haha, so I'm doing just that)_**

**_Okay, that's it! Sorry if that was kind of random! I will try to update again soon, I promise!_**


	16. Chapter 16: Deception

**_I know, I lied… I didn't know about our art club lock-in until just recently and I didn't have time to update. But hey, it's only a day late! That's better than a week late, right? Yeah! Okay, so here's a short update (you all probably hate me, but that's okay _****T^T****_) because I have finals coming up. After that I'll be done with freshman year and out for the summer! I'll post way more then. Although, if I were one of you wonderful readers, reading that last sentence, I'd probably be thinking, "Pfft, yeah right!" So if you think that, that's completely fine. _**

**_Oh, if any of you are interested in seeing my art, I will post the link in my profile. If you want to vote (and maybe even if you want to see it, I'm not sure) you may have to make an account on the site. It's safe, I promise. You don't have to, but I'll just put it out there for all of you._**

**_Thank you Phantom Ice and maltese for reviewing!_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom._**

**_Please R&R! Enjoy! _**

**_And P.S. I feel like some plot slipped into this chapter! Hooray!_**

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_Chapter 16 Start!_

_Deception_

Danny relished in the comfort that his bed – and his only – gave him. Before he had actually slept in it again, he couldn't quite remember how it felt. He really hadn't spent that long of a time at the Fentons' in retrospect, but his bed, full of comfort and happiness, in comparison to Danny Fenton's bed, which was surrounded in a thick fog of uncomfortable anticipation and full of warped springs, really made the time seem much longer. He had been awake for the past ten minutes, unable to pull himself from the pocket of warmth that he had created throughout his nap and the folds of his soft and snuggly blankets. He figured that his father would come to wake him up eventually, as he had promised earlier. No point in getting up before the time he had asked for ran out!

He had actually begun to doze off again right before Vlad came into the room with a cup of steaming tea for him (Vlad claimed that tea woke people up, but Danny just thought Vlad was getting it confused with coffee). Being woken up nicely by a gentle hand on his shoulder and the smiling face of his father was _way _better than having an alarm clock blaring in his ear in the mornings. And no, it wasn't that he couldn't wake himself up. Vlad just tended to be a morning person and liked to extend his cheerful "Good morning~!"s to everyone who may have been roaming around in the mansion, and especially to his son. And besides that, Vlad just enjoyed waking his son up. It made him happy.

* * *

Daniel could not express how angry he was! How _dare _that imposter steal his family from him, and then throw them away like he had gotten bored with them?! He can't just take them and get rid of them whenever he wanted! Sure, Daniel wasn't happy with the fact that his family was taken away from him in the first place, but at least finish the job!

That was what Daniel planned to do anyways. He would finish it through to the end, and make sure he came out on top and ridded the world of the evil imposter. He didn't care what lengths he may have to go to, but he would make sure he finished it through. He remembered how much he hated violence when he was still in a state of breathing and _living_, but now, he thought "To _hell _with that!" It violence was the way to go, he would commit to it. He _had_ always had a vague curiosity in what a half-ghost's blood looked like…

And after everything that the _liar_ had been doing to his family, he wouldn't mind making him suffer.

But, something seemed odd. Daniel remembered several conversations, as one-sided as they were, when Clockwork spoke of how frequently the Observants came to visit. He had spoke of this with great annoyance and vexation, but there was a hint of relief that seemed to stem from a knowledge that only Clockwork knew of.

Daniel had never seen any of the supposed 'Observants'. Not once in his time at Clockwork's tower. If they appeared so often, where were they?

The feeling that Clockwork knew something was nagging at him. Even though he knew that Clockwork knew plenty of things that nobody else knew, this seemed…different. This knowledge seemed similar to when (and Daniel remembered this quite clearly) many of the girls at Casper High would lead him on in a deep and elaborate scheme to get what they want. Clockwork definitely wasn't a high school girl, or was he ever cruel in that way, but something was definitely not _right. _

Whenever Daniel tried to ask him, Clockwork would smile and then say, "Oh, it's nothing important." But Daniel knew that he was lying through his teeth.

Clockwork did not get out much, so he would have no entertaining encounters from outside of the tower. Clockwork did not have many friends, as he was not a very well known ghost. He never had any ghosts visit, because they didn't know where the tower's location was, let alone that it even existed. All that Clockwork had that could bring him any sort of entertainment or interest were his time viewing portals.

And with the portals, Danny saw everything as well.

The thing that Danny found strange about the portals, though, was that they were all trained in on the Fenton home, the Masters estate, Casper High, and anywhere else that the _thief _went. Never anywhere else.

Was there something important about _him_?

Was _he _special?

Did _he _do anything to deserve all of that attention?

Daniel found it strange, _very_ strange, how Clockwork only watched him. Why? Was there a reason?

Obviously, it was a reason that only Clockwork knew about. Clockwork was so obviously filled with lies and deception and it was starting to get obnoxious. Danny didn't want to hear the lies, he didn't want to have the knowledge that his caretaker was deceiving him.

He would find out. He had to. If Clockwork knew _anything _pertaining to the phony, Daniel needed to know. He wanted to know his enemy before he set out to reap his revenge. The more knowledge he had, the better.

And it was quite obvious that Clockwork knew a lot.

_End Chapter 16!_


	17. Chapter 17: Knowledge

**_Hello! Sorry this took so long, I had a week of finals (I'm happy with those results haha), and then I went on a school trip. So yeah, here's the newest chapter! I have put a huge hint as to how this will end, if you can figure out what all is going on, kudos to you! There's not much going on in this chapter (and it's kind of a short chapter), it's just pretty much what Clockwork is thinking and planning. There's quite a few hints in here (besides the really big one) as to the plot, so enjoy! _**

**_Oh by the way, Kimiko1234 wanted me to show a bit more difference between the two Danny's. Daniel is the one that died, Danny is Vlad's son. If anyone has any more questions on that - or anything else - let me know!_**

**_And I would like to thank Kimiko1234 and maltese for reviewing last chapter! Review let me know how I'm doing and are always a big help._**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom._**

**_Please R&R! Enjoy!_**

* * *

_Chapter 17 Start!_

_Knowledge_

Clockwork watched the time stream front of him, although…he couldn't really. It wasn't moving. It wasn't flowing as it should. He knew why. It was his doing after all. He was the master of time, he could make it stop flowing if he wanted to.

He knew the images before him were moving – people were laughing and running, students were working and dozing, wind was blowing and whistling. But, time itself had stopped moving.

Clockwork wasn't concerned in the least. He knew that the boy he currently cared for was concerned about it. He was concerned for different reasons at least. Clockwork could tell that the fact that the viewing portals were honed in on every place the Danny would and could go was bothering Daniel. Clockwork could almost see the gears churning and clanking inside Daniel's head. He could definitely see the emotions that flashed across the boy's face without him knowing it. Confusion, anger, _jealousy_. Jealousy was a big one.

Clockwork did nothing to rectify Daniel's negative feelings, however. He could do nothing to effect what was happening currently. It was out of his control. He was only the master of time, not _this. _Whatever happened now was out of his control. But, if things got too out of hand, he could always stop it and still have the knowledge of the outcome of one path. Out of all the paths time could take, he would at least know the true outcome of one.

Many were confused. Many believed that he knew exactly how time would pan out. They believed he knew how time began and how it would end. Well, they were wrong.

Clockwork knew the possibilities. He knew the many different paths that time could take, and he knew the likeliness for time to take a certain path compared to another. But, he did not know exactly what path time would take, what turns it could take. Time was just uncontrollable and unpredictable.

The master of time was not all knowing. He was not a god as many had made him out to be.

He could be destroyed if someone powerful enough were to come along.

He was not invincible. He had people to talk to, he had friends. He did not think himself better than anyone else.

He made mistakes. He was not perfect.

People believed the untruths. They did not question what they were told; they accepted it as fact and moved on.

The point is: Clockwork was not immortal. Even though he was a ghost, he was not inhuman. He was an imprint of his former human self, just like all of the other ghosts in the Ghost Zone.

And just like everyone else, he tried to avoid mistakes, and if he couldn't do that, he would learn from them. Was that a crime? So many people seemed to think so. Clockwork couldn't sway their opinions, nor did he want to. It was not about them.

Clockwork turned and looked around the room. It had always seemed so gloomy and dark, but he called it home. The large and dark brick walls held so many cracks and housed so many shadows, yet they seemed so normal. They were welcoming in a strange way. How Clockwork had come to spend so much time in the fortress, he couldn't remember. It had been too long. His eyes landed on an empty rack. He would usually hang the time medallions on it for safe keeping (and for a feeling of showing off, but Clockwork would never admit that). But, they were gone. He had already distributed them out to people without their knowledge of it. Clockwork had even made more, hundreds more in order to lower any suspicion. He really didn't know what he would do with all of them after he got what he wanted from this idea. He couldn't help but think that it was way too much to go through just to try to avoid an improbable disaster.

Of all the paths he had seen, very few of them ended badly, and it was unlikely that time would take any of those paths. But, Clockwork had found that sometimes, on the very rare occasion, that time had managed to find a path that he did not see beforehand. Things were already beginning to show signs of that possibility.

If he couldn't see the path before it was taken, he would cheat. Yes, Clockwork would cheat time. He _was _the master of time, after all. And in cheating, he would have no one to bother him about it. The only obstacle here was suspicion. Suspicion could ruin the entire thing, but not if there was no room for it. Clockwork made sure to tie down every loose end to make sure that suspicion could not run rampant. It was almost like a game. It was a practice run. Clockwork would discover every move that each of the players would make and he could remember them for the actual game. He may not have control in this game like he usually does, but he would gain the knowledge needed to master the real game. He would win whether the practice ended well or ended in tragedy.

He would make sure it ended well for everyone in the real thing, but the practice run did not matter. It was merely meant for retrieving information.

He would make sure that everything went well. Time had to keep flowing, despite the fact that Clockwork had the ability to put it on pause. Clockwork just needed to make sure it flowed correctly.

With the knowledge he would gain from all of this, though, there was no way time could take an unfavorable path. Clockwork would have the ability to change things then.

He would know how.

_End Chapter 17!_


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